Work, Family Policies and Transitions to Adulthood in Europe

This book analyzes how the current generation of young adults enters the labour market and tries to create their own autonomous household, with or without children, exploring questions such as what does it mean to be a young adult in Europe today and what social policies help them to combine work and family life?

Work, Family Policies and Transitions to Adulthood in Europe systematically applies insights from social policy and gender studies to the new generation that are entering the labour market and trying to create their own autonomous household, with or without children. What does it mean to be a young adult in Europe during the economic crisis; how do they find their way on the increasingly flexible labour market, what are the social, economic and institutional barriers to leave their parental home and do social policies help them to combine work and family life? This book provides an analysis of ambivalent academic paradigms and EU policies, their implementation in national welfare states and offers comparative analyses of the demographic life course transitions of young adults, their entrance in (non) permanent jobs, their income (in)security, and the wide variety of childcare and working time policies and practices across Europe, revealing striking evidence for the geographical disparity of chances and options for young European adults.