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

by Alan Booth, Ann C. Crouter, Michael J. Shanahan

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780275962388
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	03/30/1999
Pages:	296
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.69(d)
Lexile:	1450L (what's this?)

About the Author

ALAN BOOTH is Professor of Sociology and Human Development at Pennsylvania State University. He is former editor of the Jourbanal of Marriage and the Family. He has published numerous scholarly articles and books, including Generation at Risk: Growing up in an Era of Family Upheaval (with Paul Amata, 1997).

ANN C. CROUTER is Professor of Human Development at Pennsylvania State University. Her interests focus on the ways in which parents' work circumstances influence childrearing and the development of school-aged children and adolescents. She is Deputy Editor of Jourbanal of Marriage and the Family and has published several articles and books, including Pathways through Adolescence: Individual Development in Relation to Social Contexts (with L.J. Crockett, 1995).

MICHAEL J. SHANAHAN is Assistant Professor of Human Development and Family Studies at Pennsylvania State University. His research reflects an interest in economic change and individual development and includes studies of children in poverty, adolescent work experiences, and historical patterns in adult attainment. He is coeditor of Comparisons in Human Development: Understanding Time and Context (with J. Tudge and J. Valsiner, 1996).

Table of Contents

Preface
How Have Alterations in the Structure of Opportunity Affected Transitions to Adulthood?
How Has the Changing Structure of Opportunities Affected Transitions to Adulthood? by Martha S. Hill and W. Jean Yeung
Twenty-something: Down and Out in the Other America? by J. Lawrence Aber
Alterations in the Opportunity Structure: A Criminological Perspective by John H. Laub
Sure, I'd Like to Get Married…Some Day by Lynn White
How Do Prior Experiences in the Family Affect Transitions to Adulthood?
How Do Prior Experiences in the Family Affect Transition to Adulthood? by Kelly Mussick and Larry Bumpass
Marital Conflict, Parent-Child Relationships, Gender, and Outcomes for Young Adults in Families by Martha Cox
Family Inputs and the Transition to Adulthood by Ronald Rindfuss
Values and Beliefs as Determinants of Outcomes in Children's Lives by William G. Axinn, Jennifer S. Barber, and Arland Thornton
How Do Prior Experiences in the Workplace Set the Stage for Transitons to Adulthood?
How Do Prior Experiences in the Workplace Set the Stage for Transitions to Adulthood? by Jeylan Mortimer, Carolyn Harley, and Pamela J. Aronson
What Work Fosters Adolescent Development? by Steven Hamilton
Rethinking the Young Adult Life Stage: Prolonged Dependency as an Adaptive Strategy by William Aquilino
Having the Time of Their Lives: All Work and No Play? by Wayne Osgood
Career Development and Marriage Formation in a Period of Rising Inequality: Who Is at Risk? What Are Their Prospects?
Career Development and Marriage Formation in a Period of Rising Inequality: Who Is at Risk? What Are Their Prospects? by Valerie K. Oppenheimer and Alisa Lewin
When History Is Omitted by John Modell
Sequence and Timing among Young Adult Transitions: The Impact of Poverty on Developmental Course by Julia Graber
Changing Marital Patterns: Consequences of Economic Distress? by Sheldon Danziger
The Economics of Young Adulthood: One Future or Two? by Jennifer Tanner and Scott Yabiku
Index

Editorial Reviews

Coming of age in an economic landscape characterized by a widening gap between rich and poor is the focus of 16 papers from an October 1997 conference at Pennsylvania State University. They explore the impact of alterations in the structure of opportunity, prior experiences in the family, and prior experiences in the workplace. Others consider who is at risk and what their prospects are for career development and marriage formation. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknew.com)

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