Demographic Transitions and the Life Course

Three features of early life course of Americans and Europeans during the twentieth century are of note: (1) the increased age-grading of transitions; (2) the closer spacing of different transitions, and (3) the more extensive overlap between economic and family transitions. Historical changes in the structure of individual life histories have been interpreted alternatively, as a consequence of industrialization and urbanization, or as the result of rising levels of the family and personal incomes available for consumption and investment in human capital skills. In this article we bring additional evidence to bear on this debate by comparing historical changes in the early life transitions of men and women in Japan and the United States. Trends in the transition to adulthood systematically relate to the structure of schools and labor markets in the two nations, drawing attention to the various life course implications of the institutional forms under which industrial societies may organize.