ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes accounts of young adults in Finland, who have faced difficulties in their transition to independence. It highlights young people’s diverse paths to adulthood and obstacles faced along the way, and it addresses the support services provided in this regard. The analysi is inspired by a biographical approach and the concept of ‘critical moments’ which was developed by researchers in the ‘Inventing Adulthoods’ study (Henderson et al., 2007). We adapt the idea of critical moments in the context of a third sector service provider, the Finnish Red Cross Youth Shelters, to emphasize the complex biographical dynamics at play in young people’s challenges and the shelters’ significance to young people’s biographies. Drawing on thematic life course interviews with young adults (N = 17) who have been affiliated with the services of the Youth Shelters, three themes are described that commonly intersected interviewees’ life stories, informing their need for support in pursuing independent adulthood: fragile social relationships, health issues and moving. The analyses of these aspects and the young adults’ experiences of the help received at the Youth Shelters show the importance and positive effects of holistic, low-threshold services in the lives of young adults, highlighting their role in contributing to the youths’ sustainable wellbeing.
