Transitions to adulthood in flux. Assessing coming of age through an historical lens in Finland and France

Abstract

According to youth experts, a significant number of contemporary young people in Western societies reach adulthood at a later age than previous generations. This phenomenon is generally perceived as a temporary misstep on the path to default patterns of transition established in the 1950s and 1960s. Given the current societal context, should the transition to adulthood today really conform to that model? This paper provides an historical analysis of transitions to adulthood to enquire whether the post-war model can still be considered a meaningful reference today. Were routes of transition similar or different in earlier times, or has the model always existed? To answer this question, the paper looks at demographics in two case countries, Finland and France, in three periods: the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the 1950s-1970s, and the early twenty-first century. The paper argues that the post-war generation?s rapid patterns of transition w ere unique, resulting from a sustained period of economic growth in developed societies. This has generated new pathways of transition and a model of adulthood still used as a standard point today, even though the current socio-economic context has changed. Transitions to adulthood are not static. They have always evolved, mirroring the wider historical context within which individuals operate.