This publication focuses on a conceptual and research-oriented analysis of the broader issues related to the transition to adulthood. The introduction discusses the societal changes in the highly industrialized countries since World War II which have extensive consequences for youth. The concept of youth as a stage and a lifestyle falling between adolescence and adulthood is explored along with the implications of the concept for the industrial nations. Part I of the report presents an interdisciplinary, descriptive overview of changing concepts and viewpoints relating to the transition to adulthood. The implications of these changes for schooling and on the economy and the labor market are discussed. Part II of the report explores the current relationships and changes among the three major institutions of work, family, and school as they affect the transition to adulthood. The third and final part of the report identifies a number of possible policy responses, within and outside of education, to the problems analyzed in the first sections. This section also identifies areas where further research is needed. Reference notes and a four-page bibliography conclude the report. (MCF)

How do young people envision their occupational futures? What do teenagers feel about their schooling and after-school work, and how do these experiences affect their passage to adult work? These are the questions that psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and sociologist Barbara Schneider posed in their five-year study of adolescents. The results provide an unprecedented window on society's future through which we can glimpse how today's youth are preparing themselves for the lives they will lead in the decades to come.

An examination into the social influences that have prolonged youth in today's adults Why are today's adults more like adolescents, in their dress and personal tastes, than ever before? Why do so many adults seem to drift and avoid responsibilities such as work and family? As the traditional family breaks down and marriage and child rearing are delayed, what makes a person an adult?Many people in the industrial West are simply not "growing up" in the traditional sense. Instead, they pursue personal, individual fulfillment and emerge from a vague and prolonged youth into a vague and insecure adulthood. The transition to adulthood is becoming more hazardous, and the destination is becoming more difficult to reach, if it is reached at all. Arrested Adulthood examines the variety of young people's responses to this new situation. James E. Côté shows us adults who allow the profit-driven industries of mass culture to provide the structure that is missing, as their lives become more individualistic and atomized. He also shows adults who resist anomie and build their world around their sense of personal connectedness to others. Finally, Côté provides a vision of a truly progressive society in which all members can develop their potentials apart from the influence of the market. In so doing, he gives us a clearer vision of what it means to be an adult and makes sense of the longest, but least understood period of the life course.

It is well known that the current economic recession has affected the youth population more than other age cohorts in many European countries. Nevertheless, the effects on young people’s daily lives are have not been carefully examined by intertwining different scientific perspectives. In addition to the growing attention paid to the unemployment rate, other consequences risk being underestimated. This contribution focuses on the consequences of early job insecurity and labour-market exclusion (i.e. unemployment or economic inactivity) for European youth’s autonomy in terms of leaving the parental home and forming one’s own family. Thanks to a fruitful scientific dialogue between sociology and psychology, the authors critically discuss an updated literature review on the transition from youth to adult life.The book has been written by a group of scholars working at the Department of Culture, Politics and Society and Psychology (University of Turin, IT) jointly with a colleague from the Umea University (SE).

On the Frontier of Adulthood reveals a startling new fact: adulthood no longer begins when adolescence ends. A lengthy period before adulthood, often spanning the twenties and even extending into the thirties, is now devoted to further education, job exploration, experimentation in romantic relationships, and personal development. Pathways into and through adulthood have become much less linear and predictable, and these changes carry tremendous social and cultural significance, especially as institutions and policies aimed at supporting young adults have not kept pace with these changes. This volume considers the nature and consequences of changes in early adulthood by drawing upon a wide variety of historical and contemporary data from the United States, Canada, and Western Europe. Especially dramatic shifts have occurred in the conventional markers of adulthood—leaving home, finishing school, getting a job, getting married, and having children—and in how these experiences are configured as a set. These accounts reveal how the process of becoming an adult has changed over the past century, the challenges faced by young people today, and what societies can do to smooth the transition to adulthood. "This book is the most thorough, wide-reaching, and insightful analysis of the new life stage of early adulthood."—Andrew Cherlin, Johns Hopkins University "From West to East, young people today enter adulthood in widely diverse ways that affect their life chances. This book provides a rich portrait of this journey-an essential font of knowledge for all who care about the younger generation."—Glen H. Elder Jr., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill "On the Frontier of Adulthood adds considerably to our knowledge about the transition from adolescence to adulthood. . . . It will indeed be the definitive resource for researchers for years to come. Anyone working in the area—whether in demography, sociology, economics, or developmental psychology—will wish to make use of what is gathered here."—John Modell, Brown University "This is a must-read for scholars and policymakers who are concerned with the future of today's youth and will become a touchpoint for an emerging field of inquiry focused on adult transitions."—Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, Columbia University

The field of gerontology, the study of aging, has emerged as an area of increasing importance. This book is an introduction to the multidisciplinary field of gerontology. The text, with its friendly narrative style, assumes no prior knowledge of gerontology, sociology, or psychology.

The path adolescents take from childhood to adulthood is a product of social, economic, political, and technological forces. These forces may facilitate youth's preparation to become healthy adults, or they may leave youth unprepared for adulthood. Knowledgeable projections are vital in shaping the agenda for research; for alerting educators, policy makers, and practitioners to new issues; and for formulating thoughtful responses to emerging dilemmas. This book focuses upon the future of adolescence in postindustrial societies. The authors identify some ominous societal changes that will affect youth: unstable job markets, competition for public resources due to an aging population, and widening income gaps between 'information workers' and low-skill workers. But they also observe opportunities created by information technology, innovations in health service delivery and criminal-justice rehabilitation, and the resourcefulness of a new generation. This volume examines these and other macro-structural changes that will impact adolescents' lives and their futures as adults.