Transition to adulthood in an intergenerational family context: a cohort and gender analysis based on Understanding Society

Abstract

This research uses data from the British Household Panel Survey the British Household Panel Survey and Understanding Society to analyse how young people’s transitions into adulthood in the UK have changed over time and how these changes are shaped by social and economic conditions. The evidence suggests that the transition to adulthood underwent significant changes for successive cohorts of young adults in the UK. Even though there has been convergence in the transitions to adulthood trajectories among young adults from different social backgrounds, the transition to adulthood remains strongly socially stratified and influenced by social and economic conditions.