Daughters of the Great Recession: School, Work, and Family Pathways in the Transition to Adulthood

• In Event: 223 - Section on Aging and the Life Course Paper Session. Life Course Construction in Challenging Circumstances

Abstract

The current study examines the economic and social contexts of young women’s transition to adulthood trajectories, from adolescent aspirations to young adult experiences in college, work, and family. Data comprise interviews with 61 young women ages 16-18 in 2008, and follow-up interviews with 41 of those participants in 2013-2014, when they were in their early 20s. Findings show that early class-based resources and ongoing social support, or lack thereof, translate into different pathways in young adulthood. Three types of trajectories are present: 1) the educational track, experienced primarily by middle-class young women and comprising quick and full-time engagement in post-secondary institutions after high school; 2) the work track, experienced by young women from a range of social class backgrounds and comprised of minimal post-secondary engagement coupled with full-time employment and investment in career trajectories (albeit low status or low paying careers, absent college degrees); and 3) the bumpy road track, experienced primarily by working-class and poor young women, and comprised of intermittent work and schooling and often motherhood, and a number of disruptive life events.

Author

• Jessica Halliday Hardie, Hunter College, CUNY