Pathways to adulthood and their precursors and outcomes.
Norway has an extensive welfare system which may provide adolescents with many options and high levels of flexibility in terms of pathways to adulthood. This study aimed to describe Norwegian developmental pathways to adulthood, including changes in role statuses (such as living situations, education, work, marriage/cohabitation and parenthood) from 16 to 30 years of age, and their precursors and outcomes. Repeated measures latent class analysis of longitudinal data from 998 Norwegian individuals indicated three main pathways to adulthood among women and men. In both sexes, most individuals undertook a long period of education and postponed family formation. However, some individuals started working early, a group of women established families with partners and children early, and a group of men remained primarily single between 16 and 30 years of age. Furthermore, the results show that pathways to adulthood in Norway are surprisingly similar to pathways in other countries such as the US, UK and Finland. The results indicate that pathways to adulthood are influenced by social reproduction factors in a country with high levels of welfare benefits as well. In addition, the results suggest that pathways involving living with a partner and either higher education or work are associated with high life satisfaction at age 30.
Department of Health Promotion and Development at the Faculty of Psychology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
Marianne
M
Skogbrott Birkeland
Ingrid
I
Leversen
Torbjørn
T
Torsheim
Bente
B
Wold
D000293:Adolescent; D041923:Adolescent Development; D000328:Adult; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage; D009664:Norway; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D012649:Self Concept; D012737:Sex Factors; D012923:Social Class; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D055815:Young Adult
Developmental trajectories; latent class analysis; life course; mental health; transition to adulthood; youth/emerging adulthood