Explaining Aspects of the Transition to Adulthood in Italy, Sweden, Germany, and the United States: A Cross-Disciplinary, Case Synthesis Approach

This paper synthesizes essays on Italy, Sweden, Germany, and the United States that were presented at a conference seeking to explain the school, work, and family findings outlined in these foregoing chapters. Three essays were written per country--by a social historian, by a developmental scientist, and by someone in social policy. This paper synthesizes these country-specific accounts. For Italy, the synthesis constructed stresses the accommodations the Italian family has to make because of the protracted period during which adult children live at home. For Sweden, the synthesis emphasizes the willingness of many formal and informal institutions to support youthful experimentation, so long as it does not go over into the early twenties. For Germany, the synthesis stresses the strains the apprenticeship system is under because of the increasing strength of market-oriented labor policies in German business. And for the United States, the synthesis emphasizes how race and poverty create particularly difficult transitions in a nation that stresses individual initiative, and where second or third chances are available but are not easily attainable.