Full Citation

Title: Keynote Address: Vulnerable Youth and the Transition to Adulthood

Citation Type: Journal Article

Publication Year: 2006

ISBN:

ISSN:

DOI:

NSFID:

PMCID:

PMID:

Abstract: During the last decade, scholars and policy makers have begun to acknowledge what young adults and their parents have been realizing for several decades: the transition to adulthood has increasingly become a protracted process, often extending into the third decade of life and even later. Sociological maturity, when the young achieve full-fledged adult status in society, requires more time and investment than it once did. The contrast is especially sharp compared with a half century ago, when individuals swiftly moved from adolescence into adulthood. Why this change has occurred and its ramifications for family lives of Americans are the main topics of this lecture. I begin with a brief history of recent changes that have occurred and then turn to some of the public policy implications facing this country, especially concerning young adults coming from disadvantaged backgrounds or facing special obstacles that increase the risk for making a successful transition to adulthood. My discussion draws heavily from the work of the MacArthur Research Network on Transitions to Adulthood and Public Policy ("The Network"), a team of scholars from varied disciplines who have been assembled by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to examine what social science data tell us about the reasons for . . .

User Submitted?: No

Authors: Furstenberg, Frank F.

Periodical (Full): Temple Law Review

Issue: 2

Volume: 79

Pages: 325-336

Data Collections: IPUMS CPS

Topics: Education, Family and Marriage, Labor Force and Occupational Structure

Countries: