On the Frontier of Adulthood: Theory, Research, and Public Policy

Abstract

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.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. 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.Accounts in this study 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.