In the past several decades, a new life stage has emerged: early adulthood. No longer adolescents, but not yet ready to assume the full responsibilities of an adult, many young people are caught between needing to learn advanced job skills and depending on their family to support them during the transition.
References
1.
FurstenbergFrank F.Jr.CookThomas D.SampsonRobertSlapGail, eds. Early Adulthood in Cross-National Perspective.London: Sage Publications, 2002. The contributors describe the emergence of this life stage across countries and the wide variation between them in the patterns of adult transitions.
2.
LarsonReed W.BrownBradford B.MortimerJeylan T., eds. Adolescents' Preparation for the Future: Perils and Promises.Ann Arbor, MI: The Society for Research on Adolescence, 2002. The articles in this interdisciplinary book consider how well adolescents in different societies are being prepared for adulthood in a rapidly changing and increasingly global world.
3.
ModellJohn. Into One's Own: From Youth to Adulthood in the United States 1920–1975.Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1989. Modell documents dramatic 20th-century changes in the transition to adulthood and places these shifts within the context of larger economic, political and technological changes.
4.
PortesAlejandroRumbautRubén G.. Legacies: The Story of the Immigrant Second Generation.Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2001. This book includes findings from the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study on the adaptation of second generation immigrants during adolescence.
5.
SchoeniRobertRossKaren. “Material Assistance Received from Families during the Transition to Adulthood.” In On the Frontier of Adulthood: Theory, Research, and Public Policy, eds. SetterstenRichardJr.FurstenbergFrankJr.RumbautRubén. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004. This study estimates the amount of financial assistance given to young adults by their families at different points during early adulthood.
6.
SetterstenRichard A.Jr.FurstenbergFrank F.Jr.RumbautRubén G., eds. On the Frontier of Adulthood: Theory, Research, and Public Policy.Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004. This book describes prolonged and complex patterns of school, work, and family transitions for young adults in America and Western Europe.
7.
SmeedingTimothyPhillipsKatherin Ross. “Cross-National Differences in Employment and Economic Sufficiency.”Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science580 (2002): 103–133. This article examines the economic independence of young adults in seven industrialized countries.
8.
ThorntonArlandYoung-DeMarcoLinda. “Four Decades of Trends in Attitudes Toward Family Issues in the United States: The 1960s Through the 1990s.”Journal of Marriage and the Family63 (2001): 1009–37. The authors review survey data showing changes in Americans' attitudes toward the family.
