Changes in Patterns of Social Role Combinations at Ages 25\u201326 among Those Growing Up in England between 1996 and 2015\u201316: Evidence from the 1970 British Cohort and Next Steps Studies

Thierry Gagné,Ingrid Schoon,Amanda Sacker

doi:10.1007/s10964-021-01477-1

Abstract

Changes across education, employment, and family life over the past 20 years challenges the capacity of previously established social role combinations to continue representing the experiences of young men and women born since the late 1980s. Latent class analysis was used to derive patterns of role combinations at ages 25–26 in those growing up in England, using data from 3191 men and 3921 women in the 1970 British Cohort Study (1996) and 3426 men and 4281 women in the Next Steps study born in 1989–90 (2015–16). Role combinations in 1996 were well defined by five patterns across genders: educated, work-oriented, traditional family, fragile family, and slow starters. Patterns in 2015–16 diverged across genders (e.g., disappearance of home ownership in the traditional family group among men and higher education as a group identifier among women) and included across genders fewer work-oriented, more slow starters, and a new group of “left behind” who are excluded from work and relationships. Young men and women born around 1990 experienced diverging role combinations characterized by increased delays and inequalities, with fewer being able to attain the milestones traditionally associated with the transition to adulthood by the mid-20s.

Highlights

It has been argued that, since the 1970s, transitions into adulthood have become de-standardized, i.e., more diverse and protracted (Shanahan, 2000; Furlong & Cartmel, 2007)
This study focuses on people in their mid-20s based on the assumption that this age represents a meaningful point given that: 1) the majority of young adults has left education Journal of Youth and Adolescence (2021) 50:2052–2066 and made the step into the labor market by this age; 2) young adults continue to expect to have reached most of their adult milestones by this age (Schoon et al, 2012; Vespa, 2017; Billari et al, 2019)
Social role combinations at ages 25–26 were first modeled using latent class analysis (LCA) in the four groups defined by gender and cohort separately

Summary

Introduction

It has been argued that, since the 1970s, transitions into adulthood have become de-standardized, i.e., more diverse and protracted (Shanahan, 2000; Furlong & Cartmel, 2007). Employment and the unaffordability of housing since the early 2000s (Schoon & Bynner, 2017). These imply that the role configurations found in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s may characterize increasingly smaller groups and occur at more dispersed ages over time. The study adopts a person-centred approach to explore changes in the role combinations of men and women in their mid20s, focusing on the prevalence of distinct role combinations and the potential for new, more precarious patterns emerging since the 1990s. This study focuses on people in their mid-20s based on the assumption that this age represents a meaningful point given that: 1) the majority of young adults has left education

Methods

Results

Conclusion