Panel on Transitions to Adulthood

IUSSP Panel on the transition to adulthood

Core projects / immediate
'Census Project' --- This project was initiated by Elizabeth (Beth) Fussell and uses national census data to study the combination of various statuses by age and gender. Beth has already completed the first part of this project using U.S. data from 1900 to 2000. The aim will be to extend the analysis to other countries. 'Transition to adulthood: the behavior and values of university students' --- Francesco Billari has access to data collected in a non-representative sample of university students (mostly Economics, Statistics, or Social Sciences students); surveys have been conducted in Australia (Ann Evans is the key person for Australia), Bulgaria, France, Italy, Japan (this is a representative sample), Poland, Romania, Russia, US (Brown University and the University of South Carolina). The survey is mostly on reproductive health, partnership and sexual behavior. Some questions refer to age norms and sanctions. Rick Settersten and Francesco will analyze these comparative data on norms. 'Financial self-sufficiency as an indicator of the transition to adulthood' --- This project is to be based on data from the European Community Household Panel. Arnie Aassve and Frank F. Furstenberg Jr. will work on this project. The aim is to analyze cross-national variations in the age at which young adults attain financial self-sufficiency. One possibly may include longitudinal data from the United States and Canada (PSID and SLID). Frank will by September/October write an outline of the ideas for this project. It will generally build on work already undertaken by Aassve, Mazzuco and Mencarini (an analysis of poverty using the ECHP). It will also expand on recent work by Tim Smeeding, who performed similar analyses based on cross-sectional survey data. The aim is to produce a research proposal that will eventually be funded. The ESRC (UK research council) might be a possible funding source. 'The norms and values of family, marriage, parenthood, and children: Are there cross-national patterns?' --- This project will use extant cross-national surveys (including the World Value Survey and the ISSP) to examine cross-national differences in values and attitudes that may have implications for cross-national variations in patterns and timing of family formation (e.g., purpose of marriage, purpose of having children, ideal number of children, attitudes towards parental responsibilities, maternal employment, and single parenthood, etc.). Kei Nomaguchi, Anne H. Gauthier, and Frank F. Furstenberg Jr. will work on this project. 'The transition to adulthood: evidence based on FFS data' --- This project is an extension of the chapter written by Beth Fussell and Anne H. Gauthier for the MacArthur Network on Transitions to Adulthood and Public Policy. It will use event-history analysis to describe the transition to adulthood in Canada, USA, Italy, Germany, and Sweden and to analyze some of its micro-level determinants.

Core projects/ depending on funding
'Historical trends in the norms and values of young adults' --- Depending on the results of the project described above on 'Transition to adulthood: the behavior and values of university students,' Francesco Billari and Rick Settersten may write a proposal to fund a systematic and scientifically sound comparative study of age norms for adult transitions. 'Consequences of the transition to adulthood for individuals and societies' --- Several of us are interested in this topic. However, we felt that priority to this topic will not be given by our group during the first two years of our activities as it is important to describe and explain patterns of transitions to adulthood before being able to assess their consequences. Other people who may be interested in this topic include Janet Gornick (State University New York), Nancy Folbre (University of Massachusetts) and Sawako Shirahase (Japan).

Satellite projects
Immigration and transitions to adulthood --- While the group agreed that immigrant youth are an important part of the research agenda on transitions to adulthood in developed countries, projects on this topic will not be central to the activities of the Group during the first years. Several projects related to this theme (some of which are ongoing) were noted:

A comparison of immigrant generation and health and social-psychological outcomes in Canada (using the NLSCY) and the USA (Add-Health). Jenny Godley may work on this topic.

'Immigration, communities, and demographic structure' --- This project is led by Beth Fussell (with Katharine Donato). The project involves and analysis of urban-immigrant communities in the U.S. and focuses on the demographic structure of immigrant and native-born groups. This research highlights the age-related socio-economic characteristics of urban-immigrant groups, particularly those of children and youth. An extension of this project may involve using census data from other countries (Canada, France, Germany, Australia).

'The life-course of Mexican, Costa Rican, Nicaraguan, Puerto Rican, and Dominican youth in the USA' --- This project is also led by Beth Fussell.

'The process of growing up: the precursor phases of the transition to adulthood' --- Although the focus of our group is on the young adult years, we are interested in earlier transitions that occur during adolescence, such as the first romantic relationship and entry into sexual activity. These may have an impact on the timing and sequence of subsequent transitions. Jenny Godley's research on subjective markers of puberty could be an important addition to our group. 'The changing context of parenthood' --- As a result of the individualization of the transition to adulthood, the context in which young adults make transition to parenthood has changed enormously. This project aims at describing this change and at examining its consequences. It also includes an examination of changes in investment in children. 'Parenthood project' --- This cross-national project examines socio-economic differences in the investments parents make in children through parenting styles and resources. The first step of this project will be based on Canadian data. Future funding may allow the extension of the project to other countries. This project will be led by Anne H. Gauthier and Frank F. Furstenberg Jr.