Abstract
Past decades have witnessed the postponement of important family-life events like marriage and parenthood and the rise in popularity of unmarried cohabitation and living alone. The transition from youth to adulthood has become much less predictable as a result of these changes. This chapter suggests that these developments are driven by changes in young adults’ preferences about family formation and in their constraints and opportunities. The occurrence and timing of family-life events can be conceptualized as the outcome of choice processes in which young adults strategically try to balance the attainment of their family-life goals with their goals and opportunities in other life domains. The life course approach offers a promising framework for studying the impact of individual time, social time, historical time and linked lives on the family-life decisions made by young adults.
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