Edited by
Richard A. Settersten, Jr., Frank F. Furstenberg, Jr., and Rubén G. Rumbaut

Sponsored by the John T. and Catherine D. MacArthur Foundation
Research Network on the Transitions to Adulthood and Public Policy

Forthcoming
The University of Chicago Press

Aims

The primary aims of this volume are to:

• Describe and explain the growing complexity of the transition to adulthood, highlighting how this passage varies across subgroups, how it varies cross-nationally, and how it has changed over the last century;
• Analyze the largest and highest quality secondary datasets available in the United States and Western Europe;
• Use cutting-edge methodological and statistical approaches to shed new light on these patterns;
• Elaborate how these findings might be used to rethink social policy and practice on early adulthood.

Overview of Contents

In the opening chapter, the editors review what is known about how young people move into adulthood and the challenges they face as they embark on adult life; highlight some of the empirical findings and larger themes of the volume; and launch a discussion of important new directions for theory and research.

As illustrated in the Table of Contents, the book is organized into three major sections. Sections I and II contain 13 original empirical chapters that comprise the bulk of the book. Table 1 provides an overview of the data sets drawn upon for the empirical chapters. These data sets—arguably the best secondary sources available on this topic in the United States, Canada and Western Europe—include the United States Census, Current Population Surveys, Family and Fertility Survey, General Social Survey, High School and Beyond, Monitoring the Future, Multinational Time Use Survey, National Educational Longitudinal Study, National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, and the Youth Development Study. The table also indicates which chapter uses that particular data set.

The empirical contributions use cutting-edge methodological and statistical techniques. Indeed, a central charge throughout the volume is to examine multiple transitions simultaneously, and to use innovative strategies to define coherent clusters of events or experiences and analyze their interrelationships. Most chapters therefore address major, multiple experiences in education, work, residence, and family formation.

Section I, "Comparisons over Time and Place: Cross-Sectional and Cross-National Studies," contains six empirical chapters that are all based on cross-sectional and, in two cases, cross-national data sets. These chapters explicitly compare historical eras, cohorts, or nations. Chapter 2 (Fussell and Furstenberg) examines the experiences of American youth between 16 and 30 over a 100-year span and unearths patterns of multiple status transitions for men and women, blacks and whites, and native and foreign born individuals. Chapter 3 (Fussell and Gauthier) compares American women’s transition experiences to four other nations (Canada, former West Germany, Italy, and Sweden), and Chapter 4 (Wu and Li) focuses on the marital and childbearing trajectories of American women over 50 years. Chapter 5 (Gauthier and Furstenberg) explores historical trends in time use among young adults in 11 countries, and Chapter 6 (Smith) tracks changes across three decades in a wide array of attitudes and values among age groups in the American population.

Section II, "Passages to Adulthood: Findings from Longitudinal and Regional Studies," contains eight empirical chapters that are all based on American longitudinal studies–five national studies and three regional ones (St. Paul, Minnesota; Detroit, Michigan; and New York City). Chapter 7 (Shanahan and colleagues) explores whether traditional social roles or subjective personal markers are more likely to denote adult status in the minds of young people. Chapter 8 (Mouw), like Chapter 4 (Wu and Li) turns attention to the sequencing of traditional markers (leaving home, finishing education, entering employment, marrying, and having a child), and whether and how orderly or disorderly sequences matter for adult outcomes. Chapters 9 (Sandefur and colleagues) and 10 (Osgood and colleagues) emphasize the roles of education and family social class in shaping distinct pathways into adulthood. Chapters 11 (Corcoran and Matsudaira) and 12 (Schoeni and Ross) respectively examine economic attainments in early adulthood and the financial assistance that young people receive from natal families as they make the transition. Chapter 13 (Schulenberg and colleagues) explores how transitions patterns through age 24 relate to well-being and substance use. Chapter 14 (Mollenkopf and colleagues) compares transition experiences for second generation young people in New York City whose parents came from the Dominican Republic, the South American countries of Colombia, Ecuador, or Peru, the Anglophone Caribbean, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the Chinese diaspora, and Russia, with those whose parents are native Puerto Ricans, blacks, and whites.

Section III, "Policy and Practice for Lives in Transition," is composed of two chapters devoted exclusively to matters of social policy and practice. Chapter 15 (Foster and Gifford) considers the challenges faced by three special populations: those in foster care, special education, or the juvenile justice system. Chapter 16 (Settersten) considers how institutions and policies might be strengthened to more appropriately meet the needs of young people, and how the capacities of young people themselves might be strengthened so that they are better equipped to navigate the passage to adulthood.

Importance of the Book for Social Research and Policy

Making the transition to adulthood -- leaving one’s parental home, securing stable employment, forming a family, becoming a parent, establishing one’s own household, and becoming civically involved -- may be more problematic at the turn of the 21st century than in previous eras. Compared to the relatively orderly sequence that marked adult status for many (especially for middle-class whites) earlier in this century, no modal pattern reflects the experiences of youth today. The markers of what constitutes a successful and complete transition are now seem uncertain, as does the likelihood that the decisions and investments that young people made today will be the right choices for them tomorrow.

In the final third of the 20th century, a number of trends occurred simultaneously that increased the complexity of events and transitions. In the decade after the Second World War, the rapid expansion of the American economy, the array of benefits to Veterans, and the growth of housing, permitted, if not promoted, a rapid and fairly uniform passage to adulthood. Favorable economic conditions and optimism about the future among young adults (in their late teens and early twenties) resulted in early family formation. Close to half of American men were full-time workers, and women, full-time mothers, by the time that they reached their early twenties. The historical era of the “marriage rush” and “baby boom” lasted only a couple of decades. It ended during the 1960s as rapid changes took place in both the labor market and social attitudes about women’s work and family roles. For example, by the mid-1970s, a high school education, which earlier in the century was uncommon, no longer sufficed to ensure a remunerative job, and many parents began to have difficulty supporting a family on a single wage.

Although the American economy has been booming since the early 1990s, income inequality increased from the mid-1970s to the early 1990s, and remains high. We know little about the effect of this increased inequality on the ability of young people, especially those who are less well-off, to become established in the labor market, in families and as integral members of their communities. The greater variability in adult transitions may then reflect the inability of poor and minority youth to maximize their potential and to become incorporated into mainstream society.

The interactions among a series of cultural, institutional, familial, economic, and political changes and their effects on young people have not been systematically described in previous research. Nor have we fully examined how well these changes in the passage to adulthood have been accommodated by programs and policies aimed at young adults. This book begins to fill these gaps. It provides the most comprehensive treatment of this topic to date, offering textured understandings of the changes that have occurred in the organization of early adulthood over historical time, across societies with advanced economies, and for subgroups within a larger population.

This information is critically needed to address the possibilities and problems associated with attaining adulthood; to evaluate the effectiveness of existing policies and programs that are designed to support the transition to adulthood for youth in the mainstream and those in marginalized groups; and to design, implement, and evaluate new policies and programs that might better to facilitate this transition and build more supportive connections between education, work, family, and civic life.

This book both complements and significantly extends the view of three recent edited volumes on the transition to adulthood: First, Transitions to Adulthood in Europe (Corijn & Klijzing, Kluwer Plenum, 2001), which is focused exclusively on the Fertility and Family Survey and on European countries examined singly. Second, Transitions to Adulthood in a Changing Economy (Booth et al., Praeger, 1999), which contains four core chapters that explore young people’s orientation toward work and family; prior family experiences; prior experiences in the workplace; or career development and marriage formation. And third, a special issue of the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (March, 2002), “Early Adulthood in Cross-National Perspective,” a collection of 11 articles assembled by one of the editors of this book (Furstenberg). The importance of this topic is also reflected in the activities of many professional organizations in the social and behavioral sciences. These organizations have not only experienced a surge of interest in the transition to adulthood, but they are also launching new teaching, research, and policy initiatives as a result. For example, the Society for Research on Adolescence has recently developed a special interest group on "Emerging Adulthood," an active group of interdisciplinary scholars devoted to understanding the development of individuals between the ages of 18 and 29.

Contributors

The editors and authors represent a wide range of disciplines and fields, including sociology, psychology, economics, demography, human development, and public policy.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

On the Frontier of Adulthood: Theory, Research, and Public Policy

Edited by
Richard A. Settersten, Jr., Frank F. Furstenberg, Jr., and Rubén G. Rumbaut

On the Frontier of Adulthood: An Introduction

CHAPTER 1
On the Frontier of Adulthood: Emerging Themes and New Directions
F. Furstenberg, R. Rumbaut, and R. Settersten

Section I: Comparisons over Time and Place: Cross-Sectional and Cross-National Studies

CHAPTER 2
The Transition to Adulthood during the 20th Century: Differences by Race, Nativity
and Gender
E. Fussell and F. Furstenberg
Research & Policy Brief: Chapter 2

CHAPTER 3
American Women’s Transition to Adulthood in Comparative Perspective
E. Fussell and A. Gauthier
Research & Policy Brief: Chapter 3

CHAPTER 4
Marital and Childbearing Trajectories of American Women: 50 Years of Social Change
L. Wu and J. Li
Research & Policy Brief: Chapter 4

CHAPTER 5
Historical Trends in Patterns of Time Use among Young Adults
A. Gauthier and F. Furstenberg
Research & Policy Brief: Chapter 5

CHAPTER 6
Generation Gaps in Attitudes and Values from the 1970s to the 1990s
T. Smith
Research & Policy Brief: Chapter 6

Section II. Passages to Adulthood: Findings from Longitudinal and Regional Studies

CHAPTER 7
Subjective Age Identity and the Transition to Adulthood: When Does One Become an Adult?
M. Shanahan, E. Porfeli, and J. Mortimer
Research & Policy Brief: Chapter 7

CHAPTER 8
Sequences of Early Adult Transitions: How Variable are They, and Does it Matter?
T. Mouw
Research & Policy Brief: Chapter 8

CHAPTER 9
Off to a Good Start? Post-Secondary Education and Early Adult Life
G. Sandefur, J. Eggerling-Boeck, and H. Park
Research & Policy Brief: Chapter 9

CHAPTER 10
Six Paths to Adulthood: Fast Starters, Parents without Careers, Educated Partners, Educated Singles, Working Singles, and Slow Starters
W. Osgood, G. Ruth, J. Eccles, J. Jacobs, and B. Barber
Research & Policy Brief: Chapter 10

CHAPTER 11
Is It Getting Harder to Get Ahead? Economic Attainment in Early Adulthood for Two Cohorts
M. Corcoran and J. Matsudaira
Research & Policy Brief: Chapter 11

CHAPTER 12
Material Assistance Received from Families during the Transition to Adulthood
R. Schoeni and K. Ross
Research & Policy Brief: Chapter 12

CHAPTER 13
Early Adult Transitions and their Relation to Well-Being and Substance Use
J. Schulenberg, P. O’Malley, J. Bachman, and L. Johnston
Research & Policy Brief: Chapter 13

CHAPTER 14
The Ever-Winding Path: Ethnic and Racial Diversity in the Transition to Adulthood
J. Mollenkopf, M. Waters, J. Holdaway, and P. Kasinitz
Research & Policy Brief: Chapter 14

Section III: Policy and Practice for Lives in Transition

CHAPTER 15
Special Populations and the Transition to Adulthood: Challenges to Policies and Research
E. Foster and E. Gifford
Research & Policy Brief: Chapter 15

CHAPTER 16
Social Policy and the Transition to Adulthood: Toward Stronger Institutions and Individual Capacities
R. Settersten
Research & Policy Brief: Chapter 16

ABOUT THE EDITORS AND CONTRIBUTORS

Editors

Frank F. Furstenberg, Jr., Ph.D., Zellerbach Family Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology, University of Pennsylvania

Rubén G. Rumbaut, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Sociology, and Co-Director, Center for Research on Immigration, Population, and Public Policy, University of California, Irvine

Richard A. Settersten, Jr., Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Case Western Reserve University

Contributors

Jerald G. Bachman, Ph.D., Senior Research Scientist, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan

Bonnie L. Barber, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Family Studies and Human Development, University of Arizona

Mary Corcoran, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Political Science, Social Work and Public Policy, University of Michigan

Jacquelynne S. Eccles, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Michigan

Jennifer Eggerling-Boeck, Doctoral Student, Department of Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison

E. Michael Foster, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Health Policy and Administration, Pennsylvania State University

Frank F. Furstenberg, Jr., Ph.D., Zellerbach Family Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology, University of Pennsylvania

Elizabeth Fussell, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Tulane University

Anne H. Gauthier, Ph.D., Canada Research Chair in Comparative Public Policy, University of Calgary

Elizabeth J. Gifford, Doctoral Student, Department of Health Policy and Administration, Pennsylvania State University

Janis E. Jacobs, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Pennsylvania State University

Lloyd D. Johnston, Ph.D., Senior Research Scientist, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan

Philip Kasinitz, Ph.D., Associate Director, Center for Urban Research, City University of New York Graduate Center

Jui-Chung Allen Li, Doctoral Student, Department of Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Jordan Matsudaira, Doctoral Student, Department of Public Policy and Economics, University of Michigan

John Mollenkopf, Ph.D., Executive Director, Center for Urban Research, City University of New York Graduate Center

Jeylan T. Mortimer, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Minnesota

Ted Mouw, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Patrick M. O’Malley, Ph.D., Senior Research Scientist, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan

D. Wayne Osgood, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Sociology, Pennsylvania State University

Hyunjoon Park, Doctoral Student, Department of Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Erik Porfeli, Doctoral Student, Human Development and Family Studies, Pennsylvania State University

Karen Ross, Doctoral Student, Department of Sociology and School of Education, University of Michigan

Rubén G. Rumbaut, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Sociology, and Co-Director, Center for Research on Immigration, Population, and Public Policy, University of California, Irvine

Gretchen R. Ruth, Doctoral Student, Department of Sociology, Pennsylvania State University

Gary D. Sandefur, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison

John Schulenberg, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Psychology, and Senior Research Scientist, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan

Robert F. Schoeni, Ph.D., Senior Associate Research Scientist, Institute for Social Research, and Associate Professor, Department of Economics, University of Michigan

Richard A. Settersten, Jr., Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Case Western Reserve University

Michael J. Shanahan, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Tom W. Smith, Director of the General Social Survey, National Opinion Research Center, University of Chicago

Mary Waters, Ph.D., Harvard College Professor, Department of Sociology, Harvard University

Lawrence L. Wu, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison