Transition to Adulthood in Europe

Abstract

This article reviews the similarities and differences in the transition to adulthood in Europe. Recent change and the still striking diversity in pathways to adulthood in Europe have attracted growing comparative research interests. The considerable heterogeneity in institutional arrangements, cultural heritage, and economic life observed across contemporary European societies provides fertile ground for testing hypotheses of various macro-level theories and approaches addressing interactions between micro- and macro-level factors. Pursuing a comparative perspective, this review frames the transition to adulthood within a life course perspective. After having mapped the terrain of recent change and contemporary diversity in the transition to adulthood in Europe, the review presents the theoretical perspectives predominantly used to explain diversity and discusses whether the empirical evidence squares with the theoretical propositions. The review concludes by suggesting how future research could advance understanding of the complex nature of the transition to adulthood in Europe.

Parental co-residence, shared living and emerging adulthood in Europe: semi-dependent housing across welfare regime and housing system contexts

“…In the European context, Buchmann & Kriesi (2011) identify a number of recent and critical changes in adulthood transitions. First, has been increasingly prolonged transition processes, with evidence of postponement in terms of traditional transition markers (see Gauthier, 2007;Settersten, 2007).…”

“…These trends have led, nonetheless, to claims of a more or less universal 'destandardization' in life-course transitions to adulthood, albeit bearing the markers of specific socio-cultural pathways related to variance in home-leaving age and its de-coupling with marriage or job-entry events (Bernardio & Nazio, 2005;Bruckner & Mayer, 2005;Mulder et al, 2002). While Buchmann and Kriesi (2011) provide an important overview of research on adulthood transition, like many demographers, they fail to fully acknowledge the significance of housing; both its central role as a marker of adulthood and in housing's interrelated influence on other transition dimensions. Housing careers are clearly intertwined with family formation transitions yet destandardization in housing pathways and how these vary across regional contexts is not well understood.…”

“…It has been argued that the transition period from youth to adulthood has become more extended and diversified in recent decades (Buchmann & Kriesi, 2011;Arnett, 2000). Much research has focused on changes in school-to-work transitions and especially family formation processes.…”

Social Inequality, Life Course Transitions, and Adolescent Development: Introduction to the Special Issue

“…Approaching trajectories in the life course through the lens of transitions may also sharpen our understanding of processes of cumulative advantage and disadvantage as disparities in coping with early transitions may reveal themselves fully fletched only when making later transitions (Johnson et al 2011, Steinhoff and. While this perspective is certainly not limited to the adolescent life stage, adolescence may be an ideal showcase as this part of the life course (and the transition to young adulthood) represents such a dense life period when transitions accumulate and partially overlap (Buchmann and Kriesi 2011). Moreover, the coping with transitions in the adolescent life course is eminently consequential for the adult life course and the respective developmental processes.…”

“…It should not be overlooked, however, that the significance of macro-contextual conditions referring to deeply rooted cultural beliefs on child and adolescent development is at the core of cultural psychology (e.g., Trommsdorff 2015Trommsdorff , 2017. Buchmann and Kriesi (2011) have applied a comparative macro perspective in their literature review on the transition to adulthood in Europe, examining this transition through the lens of variations in institutional arrangements. Such a perspective promises to shed light on the question of which agency components matter to what degree and under which macro-contextual circumstances.…”