Transitions to Adulthood in a Changing Economy: No Work, No Family, No Future?

by Booth, Alan C.

• ISBN13: 9780275962388
• ISBN10: 0275962385
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-03-30
• Publisher: Greenwood Pub Group

Summary

In recent years the factors influencing young people's transition to adulthood have become much more problematic. This edited collection of papers from Pennsylvania State University's fifth annual Family Symposium explores the main issues involved in this transition, such as the widening gap between rich and poor, downsizing, global competition, and technological change. These factors have made jobs scarce in many areas, especially inner cities, and have profoundly affected family formation, making cohabitation, delays in marriage and parenthood, and prolonged residence with parents, the life choices of many young adults. These and other issues are explored by scholars from a wide variety of disciplines, who focus on four main questions: alterations in the structure of opportunity, prior experiences in the family, prior experiences in the workplace, and career development and marriage formation.

Author Biography

J. Lawrence Aber is Director of the National Center for Children in Poverty at the Columbia University School of Public Health William S. Aquilino is Associate Professor in the Department of Child and Family Studies at the University of Wisconsin--Madison Pamela J. Aronson is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Sociology at the University of Minnesota William G. Axinn is Professor of Sociology and Senior Research Associate at the Population Research Institute at the Pennsylvania State University Jennifer S. Barber is Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at the Population Studies Center and the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan Alan Booth is Professor of Sociology and Human Development at the Pennsylvania State University Larry Bumpass is Professor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin--Madison, and Co-Director of the National Survey of Families and Households Martha Cox is Senior Investigator at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Center and a Research Professor of Psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Ann C. Crouter is Professor of Human Development at the Pennsylvania State University Sheldon Danziger is Henry J. Meyer Collegiate Professor of Social Work and Public Policy and Director of the Center on Poverty, Risk, and Mental Health at the University of Michigan Julia A. Graber is Associate Director of the Center for Children and Families and the Adolescent Study Program at Teachers College, Columbia University Stephen F. Hamilton is Professor of Human Development at Cornell University Carolyn Harley is a doctoral student in the Division of Health Services Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota and is data collection coordinator for the Youth Development Study Martha S. Hill is Associate Research Scientist at the Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan John H. Laub is Professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Maryland and Visiting Scholar at the Henry A. Murray Research Center of Radcliffe College Alisa Lewin is Lecturer at the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Haifa, Israel John Modell is Professor of History and Sociology, Carnegie Mellon University and Adjunct Professor of Human Development, Brown University Jeylan T. Mortimer is Professor of Sociology and Director of the Life Course Center at the University of Minnesota Kelly Musick is a Ph.D. candidate in Sociology at the University of Wisconsin--Madison Valerie K. Oppenheimer is Professor of Sociology, Emerita, at the University of California, Los Angeles D. Wayne Osgood is Professor of Crime, Law, and Justice and Sociology at the Pennsylvania State University Ronald R. Rindfuss is Professor in the Department of Sociology and a Fellow of the Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina--Chapel Hill Michael J. Shanahan is Assistant Professor of Human Development and Family Studies at the Pennsylvania State University Jennifer Tanner is a graduate student in Human Development and Family Studies at the Pennsylvania State University Arland Thornton is Professor of Sociology and Research Scientist at the Institute for Social Research, and Acting Director of the Population Studies Center at the University of Michigan Lynn White is Professor of Sociology at the University of Nebraska--Lincoln Scott Yabiku is a graduate student in sociology at the Pennsylvania State University W. Jean Yeung is Assistant Research Scientist at the Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, and a Co-Principal Investigator for the Panel Study of Income Dynamics

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
I. How Have Alterations in the Structure of Opportunity Affected Transitions to Adulthood?	1	(66)
How Has the Changing Structure of Opportunities Affected Transitions to Adulthood?	3	(37)
Martha S. Hill
W. Jean Yeung
Twenty-something: Down and Out in the Other America?	40	(8)
J. Lawrence Aber
Alterations in the Opportunity Structure: A Criminological Perspective	48	(8)
John H. Laub
Sure, I'd Like to Get Married . . . Someday	56	(11)
Lynn White
II. How Do Prior Experiences in the Family Affect Transitions to Adulthood?	67	(62)
How Do Prior Experiences in the Family Affect Transitions to Adulthood?	69	(34)
Kelly Musick
Bumpass
Marital Conflict, Parent--Child Relationships, Gender, and Outcomes for Young Adults in Families	103	(6)
Martha Cox
Family Inputs and the Transition to Adulthood	109	(9)
Ronald R. Rindfuss
Values and Beliefs as Determinants of Outcomes in Children's Lives	118	(11)
William G. Axinn
Jennifer S. Barber
Arland Thornton
III. How Do Prior Experiences in the Workplace Set the Stage for Transitions to Adulthood?	129	(58)
How Do Prior Experiences in the Workplace Set the Stage for Transitions to Adulthood?	131	(29)
Jeylan T. Mortimer
Carolyn Harley
Pamela J. Aronson
What Work Fosters Adolescent Development?	160	(8)
Stephen F. Hamilton
Rethinking the Young Adult Life Stage: Prolonged Dependency as an Adaptive Strategy	168	(8)
William S. Aquilino
Having the Time of Their Lives: All Work and No Play?	176	(11)
D. Wayne Osgood
IV. Career Development and Marriage Formation in a Period of Rising Inequality: Who Is at Risk? What Are Their Prospects?	187	(82)
Career Development and Marriage Formation in a Period of Rising Inequality: Who Is at Risk? What Are Their Prospects?	189	(37)
Valerie K. Oppenheimer
Alisa Lewin
When History Is Omitted	226	(8)
John Modell
Sequence and Timing among Young Adult Transitions: The Impact of Poverty on Developmental Course	234	(10)
Julia A. Graber
Changing Marital Patterns: Consequences of Economic Distress?	244	(10)
Sheldon Danziger
Conclusion: the Economies of Young Adulthood---One Future or Two?	254	(15)
Jennifer Tanner
Scott Yabiku
Author Index	269	(6)
Subject Index	275	(6)
About the Editors and Contributors	281