Navigating the transition to adulthood

Abstract

The focus here is on the drivers of transitions and the routes that young people have to navigate in what is now a labour market ever-more associated with risk and precarity. Transitions are status passages of the life course that young people have to navigate. They are related to social pathways that differ in structure and number in England and Germany and reflect their management of personal relationships, education, and employment. The transition from education to work is considered from the perspective of institutional arrangements and discussed in terms of the effects of digitalisation in restructuring occupations on the pathways of vocational training and academic education. A core theme is how social class and differences in the welfare mix for young people are key influences on their access to occupational opportunities and the process and outcomes of such transitions.