Family and Gender Patterns in the Transitions to Adulthood: Findings from a Longitudinal Study

Based on findings from a longitudinal research, “EPITeen24: Reproducing or going against social destiny? A longitudinal study of a cohort born in the nineties of the XX century in Portugal”, that analyzed a cohort of people born in 1990, assessed at the ages of 13, 17, 21 and 24, we develop a study of youngsters gender patterns’ and transitions to adulthood. We will focus on school and family experiences at different ages, parenting styles, decisions on extending school and on entering the labor market, combing social class, social mobility and gender inequalities.

Previous results at 21 show that women stand out in upward educational mobility and seem to present very focused oriented practices to reach higher educational and social position. Young women’s higher educational attainment has been largely discussed. Some authors also point out to what they call “school alienation”, especially among working class background boys but affecting less young men from the middle or more advantaged classes.

But what happens when entering the labor market? Research findings seem contradictory: on one hand, the change from a production economy to a service economy seems to benefit women in terms of employment opportunities. This may translate into more advantageous positions for them, in comparison to men, at least in some type of jobs. But we can already account for gender inequality persistence, with women presenting more precarious and unstable situations. And women occupy more jobs in services and caring areas and men occupy more places in positions of authority, prestige and status.

So who is winning and where? Who is losing and where? More recent results from the 24 year old wave and additional carried out qualitative interviews also at 24 seek to clarify these issues.