The Implications of Family Context for the Transition to Adulthood

Abstract

In the prolonged transition to adulthood, young adults are increasingly dependent on their families for material and emotional support, but what effect does this support have on later success? This chapter extends research by Fingerman and colleagues to investigate the long-term implications of family context on young adults’ success. Specifi cally, we draw upon data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to examine how adolescent family structure and parent– child relationships in both adolescence and early adulthood shape later subjective achievement. Youth growing up in two-biological parent families have the highest levels of subjective attainment, which is largely because youth in these families have greater access to fi nancial resources in adolescence and as they follow differ- ent transition pathways into adulthood. Greater family resources allow families to provide fi nancial support throughout the transition to adulthood. Parent–offspring closeness during adolescence and early adulthood is advantageous for subjective achievement while high levels of monitoring during adolescence is negatively asso- ciated with later success. Consistent with Fingerman and her colleagues, we fi nd that young adult pathways condition the effects of parental support and closeness on achievement.