Not Quite Adults

September 6, 2010
Settersten, a professor of human development and family sciences at Oregon State University, and Ray, communications director of the Network on Transitions to Adulthood, funnel the findings of the eight-year MacArthur Research Network's study of 20-somethings into a portrait of a generation. Drawing on more than 500 interviews and foraying into their subjects' debts, regrets, and ambitions, the authors reveal that the cohort is making a slower transition to adulthood—they are slower to leave the nest, slower to find a full-time job, slower to marry and have children—but that their choices are hardly regressions; they are often necessary adaptations to a world vastly different from their parents'. "Slaying misperceptions," the authors show that young people are some of the most debtphobic individuals in the country, that they are delaying—not abandoning—marriage, that friends play larger and more influential roles in their lives and assist with "critical life decisions," and that they continue to regard having children as meaningful, "even salvation." Aside from enjoying a panoramic perspective on one generation, readers will be able to glean tips on everything from dating to parenting from this admirably lucid and fair-minded study that, in describing what is happening, reveals what is working.

September 1, 2010

How young adults and their families are navigating a rapidly changing economy.

With the assistance of Ray, the former communications director for the MacArthur Research Network on Transitions to Adulthood, Settersten (Human Development and Family Sciences/Oregon State Univ.; co-editor: On the Frontier of Adulthood, 2005, etc.) draws on an eight-year study, sponsored by the MacArthur Foundation, into the social and financial lives of young Americans between the ages of 18 and 34. Many are still living at home or are dependant upon families who are increasingly unable to provide support. While in the past it was possible for high-school dropouts to find well-paid factory jobs that allowed them to take on adult responsibilities, today an associate's degree from a community college is the minimum necessary to avoid being tracked into a low-paying service-sector job and "a vicious cycle of debt" and dependency. Middle-class parents have seen their home equity and savings vanish, money that they had depended upon to finance their children's college expenses. Meanwhile, young people are "treading water," fearful of incurring large student loans in a shrinking job market. This is creating a widening gap between the vast majority of young adults, who are struggling to keep afloat, and the children of affluent parents whom the author calls "swimmers"—those who depend on their families for generous financial support during and after college. Despite the differences in their circumstances, both "swimmers" and "treaders" are failing to meet the traditional milestones of living independently, marrying and having children while in their early 20s. "Today," writes the author, "one-half of those between eighteen and twenty-four have not left their childhood bedrooms, let alone landed a job, married, or had children of their own. This is a 37 percent increase over 1970. And an even bigger jump in living at home has occurred for those ages twenty-five through thirty-four—a 139 percent increase since 1970."

A provocative look at how a changing reality is transforming the transition to adulthood for a generation of Americans, and the implications of this transformation in today's competitive world.

(COPYRIGHT (2010) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

Starred review from January 1, 2011

Cogent, coherent, and corrective, this engaging summary of recent research puts to rest the stereotype of American young adults as entitled, maturity-averse slackers. Indeed, Settersten (human development & family sciences, Oregon State Univ.) and Ray, executive editor for a MacArthur Foundation website (spotlight.macfound.org), do document the many ways that touch points of adulthood (college degree, independent living, marriage, savings) are happening years later for people currently in their twenties and thirties than for their parents and grandparents. But they also make a solid case that the revised schedule is appropriate to the times. Of far greater concern than delayed milestones is the vast disparity of resources and opportunities--and results, such as lifetime income--between "swimmers," as the authors term college-educated youth with strong family support and wide social networks, and "treaders," a larger group of young people suffering chronic, generational resource deficits and, frequently and ironically, a too-fast entry into the world of parenthood and employment, with little hope of advancement. VERDICT Based on a large, multidisciplinary study by the MacArthur Research Network, this book is myth busting and eye-opening. It should be required reading for parents, educators, policymakers, sociologists, and this group's most important stakeholder: young adults themselves.--Janet Ingraham Dwyer, State Lib. of Ohio, Columbus

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from June 1, 2012

Settersten and Ray recognize that the smooth path from high school to college to marriage to parenthood is no longer a reality for many young adults. Using empirical evidence, they seek to address a complex issue that is often dealt with too superficially--especially in the media. Throughout, the authors offer useful tips to parents and children on topics such as job-hopping, college, dating, and parenthood. The book's companion website (notquiteadults.com) is an indispensable tool for parents and their adult children living together again. (LJ 1/11)

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.