ABSTRACT
This chapter concerns the transitions into adulthood. An analysis of them was started within the JYLS in the 1980s, when age stratification as an explanation for the transition into adulthood was widely discussed in sociological literature. In each society, there are expectations about the age at which certain roles are taken up and when others are avoided, but there are also individual factors, such as maturation that affect role behaviors. The aspirations and plans of young people themselves may also have a significant impact on their transition into adulthood. In the literature on transitions to adulthood, the transitions that are typically expected to signify adult status are called adult transitions. The chapter shows that the length of education affected the content and timing of adult transitions and that a lack of an educational degree was the most frequent reason for a partial transition into adulthood up until the age of 42.
