Ideations and Intentions in the Transition to Adulthood – a Cross-European Comparison

Katrin Schwanitz , University of Turku
Valeria Ferraretto , University of Trento
Agnese Vitali , University of Trento
Rampazzo Francesco, Oxford University

This article updates and considerably broadens the geographic coverage to assess the gendered cross-national and cross-temporal patterns of ideations and intentions about key events in the transition to adulthood (1st exit from the parental home, 1st cohabitation, 1st marriage, and 1st child). Ideations and intentions are important precursors of actual behaviour but still seem understudied in the literature on the transition to adulthood. We capitalise on cross-nationally representative data from 33 European countries drawn from two recent large-scale survey programs (Generations and Gender Survey 2003–2010, GGS; European Social Survey 2006–2018, ESS) to provide novel insight into the contemporary context of young adults’ decision-making in the transition to adulthood. Preliminary results show that the age-gradient of leaving-home intentions seems to reverse – and not increase – around the mid-twenties in many European countries. Also, there does not seem to be a postponement in ideal ages across cohorts. Lastly, there is a clear country-gradient in ideal ages to leave the parental home. But within some countries (e.g., Norway, Sweden), men and women reach it at roughly the same time, while within other countries (e.g., Germany, Netherlands) ideal ages are higher for men.

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 Presented in Session 22. Transition to Adulthood