Transition to adulthood in England and Wales: The analysis of life trajectories of young adults

Key takeaways

content: "@pelikhTransitionAdulthoodEngland2019" -file:@pelikhTransitionAdulthoodEngland2019

Reading notes

Imported on 2024-06-26 11:24

⭐ Important

• & Yet, there exists no single definition for the transition to adulthood. Some scholars refer to the extension or prolongation of a “youth phase” of the life course (Berger, 1960; Cavalli & Galland, 1995; Bynner, 2005), others use the terms “postadolescence” (Erikson, 1963; Buchmann, 1989), “emerging adulthood” (Arnett, 2000; Arnett, 2006), “boomerang age” (Mitchell, 2007), and “young adults” (Da Vanzo & Goldscheider, 1990; Furlong & Cartmel, 2007). (p. 26)
• & Economic restructuring together with the expansion of higher education are often indicated among the most prominent changes in the economic and social structure that have occurred since the 1960s (Lesthaeghe & van de Kaa, 1986; Liefbroer, 1999). Economic restructuring towards information technology demanded more highly skilled workers and triggered the expansion of higher and further education among young adults. Since the late 1950s the variety of educational routes in European countries (e.g. polytechnics, vocational training courses, and apprenticeships) has increased and become available for wider groups of population, in particular among women1 (Liefbroer, 1999; Garrouste, 2010). (p. 33)
• & Changes in the economic and social structure were occurring simultaneously with the introduction of new policy acts regulating family life in the vast majority of Western European countries. Thus, a change in the divorce law occurred in the late 1960s-1970s and allowed couples to divorce without proving “fault” (e.g. adultery, violence, insanity) in countries where it was restricted before (e.g. Germany, Italy, the UK), which caused a large increase in the divorce rates (e.g. ONS, 2015b). (p. 33)
• & Technological innovations that fall under the umbrella of the SDT usually refer to changes in contraceptive behaviour. The introduction of reliable contraceptive methods (such as the contraceptive pill, intrauterine device (IUDs), vasectomy) together with the widespread dissemination of information about contraception in the mass media have collectively been described as the “contraceptive revolution” (Westoff & Ryder, 1977). (p. 34)
• & To analyse various aspects of the transition to adulthood, individual’s life histories were created in century-months5 from the moment young people turn 16 (minimum age at leaving school in the UK for all cohorts in the dataset) until they are followed in the dataset. To extend the observation window, the BHPS and UKHLS data were merged together, but the analysis is restricted to the subsample recruited in BHPS and thus no new entrants were added. Only respondents present at least two consecutive waves were included. The official harmonised Understanding Society and BHPS dataset became available in November 2017, after the main analyses for this thesis were conducted, and therefore this thesis is based at least in part upon analyses of a merged dataset created by Elizabeth Washbrook and Hill Kulu as part of an ESRC funded research project on Interrelationships between Housing Transitions and Fertility in Britain and Australia. (p. 42)
• & Figure 1.3 Lexis diagram for the sample selection (p. 42)
• & Table 1.2 Data and sample for each thesis chapter (p. 43)