Toward Many Emerging Adulthoods: A Theory-Based Examination of the Features of Emerging Adulthood for Cross-Systems Youth

2021 ◽  
pp. 216769682198912
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Bowen ◽  
Annahita Ball ◽  
Annette Semanchin Jones ◽  
Berg Miller
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Emerging Adulthood ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Financial Stability ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
The United States ◽  
Identity Exploration ◽  
Educational Disadvantage ◽  
Two Samples ◽  
Vulnerable Subpopulations

Although it is widely acknowledged that emerging adulthood is experienced differently by various groups, few studies have directly examined the theoretical features of emerging adulthood in vulnerable subpopulations of low-income young people in the United States. This study addressed this gap by exploring the salience of the five features proposed in emerging adulthood theory—identity exploration, instability, feeling in-between, sense of self-focus, and optimism for the future—for cross-systems youth. Two samples from prior qualitative studies of young people age 18–24 who had experienced homelessness, child welfare involvement, and/or educational disadvantage were combined for the analysis ( N = 50). We noted important divergences and nuances in the ways in which the theoretical features resonated with the sample. For example, most participants sought financial stability and independence, rather than identity and career exploration. The findings speak to the importance of further research to establish features of emerging adulthood in diverse populations.

Young People and Disadvantaged Environments in Affluent Countries

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirsten Visser
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Personal Characteristics ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Structural Factors ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Rural Environments

Many social scientists over the last decades have focused on the question of the impacts of poverty on people. Studies in this field primarily examine the effects of social, cultural, and economic resources and structural factors on the development, social outcomes, and well-being of an individual. In the last decades, scholarly interest has increasingly focused on poverty among children and adolescents (hereafter “young people”). Young people are seen as a nation’s future, which forms a reason for societal concern with their well-being and developmental outcomes. In addition, scholars increasingly acknowledge that poverty is multidimensional and heterogenous: the effects of poverty differ according to personal characteristics such as age, gender, race/ethnicity, or disability, but they are also exemplified by the disadvantaged environments in which young people find themselves, such as dysfunctional families, deprived neighborhoods, and low-quality schools. This article gives an overview of the most important works in the field of the effects of poverty and disadvantaged environments on young people (0–18 years of age). As the nature of poverty differs significantly between affluent countries and low-income developing countries, this review is focused on studies in the United States, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. Given the fact that disadvantage, and the different effects thereof on young people, can be approached from the perspectives offered by different social sciences, publications from geography, sociology, social work, anthropology, economics, and (environmental) psychology are included in this review. This article departs from the idea of ecological models, assuming that poverty impacts children within their various contexts such as the home, school, and neighborhood. After presenting general works on poverty among young people, attention is given to the impacts of disadvantages in home, neighborhood, and school environments. Most studies that are discussed in this review deal with disadvantage in urban areas, reflecting the focus of the overall literature in affluent countries. However, poverty and disadvantage also differ between urban and rural environments. Therefore, the article ends with an overview of literature on poverty among young people in rural areas.

Managing Director’s Global Policy Agenda to the International Monetary and Financial Committee

Policy Papers ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 (59) ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
Capacity Building ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Financial Stability ◽  
Technical Assistance ◽  
Safety Net ◽  
The United States ◽  
International Taxation ◽  
Structural Reforms ◽  
Financial Conditions ◽  
Trade Offs

The Executive Summary is also available in: Arabic , Chinese, French, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish. The membership is facing a rapidly changing and uncertain world. The United States is poised to raise interest rates amid ongoing recovery, China’s expected slowdown as it rebalances growth is creating larger-than-anticipated spillovers, and commodity producers are facing the end of a long cycle of high commodity prices. These necessary transitions pose challenges, particularly for emerging and low-income developing countries, where prospects have dwindled the most. Policymakers are increasingly grappling with difficult policy trade-offs. Faced with limited room to maneuver and the need to adapt to new realities, what relative weight should be placed on supporting demand and current activity, on reducing financial risks as financial conditions tighten, and on implementing urgently needed structural reforms to revive future growth? Policies need to reflect country circumstances and coalesce into a new multilateralism. Mutually reinforcing policies are needed to support growth today, invest in resilience and safeguard financial stability, and implement the structural reforms needed for a sustainable and inclusive future. Policies should reflect member circumstances and also add up to a coherent whole—to ensure that demand is created not substituted, market resilience is enhanced not circumvented, and that structural reforms are enacted not delayed. Cooperation is vital in areas such as the global financial safety net, trade, climate change, international taxation, sustainable development goals (SDGs), and demographic transitions and migration. The Fund will support the membership at this juncture. The Fund has both the universal membership and mandate to address growth and economic stability issues at the national and global levels. To support the membership most effectively, the Fund will focus on three priorities that best reflect this new AIM: • Agility. Advice will focus on policies to support members cope with evolving transitions—respond to tighter and more volatile financial conditions and implement effective macro-structural reforms. The lending framework will deliver financial assistance quickly where needed. Delivery of technical assistance and training will be enhanced by greater use of online tools. • Integration. In the face of growing policy trade-offs, the Fund will support its members by better integrating policy advice across sectors, embracing evolving priorities, promoting integration of global, regional, and bilateral safety nets, and better leveraging synergies between surveillance and capacity building. • Member-Focused. With policy concerns evolving rapidly and advice becoming more dependent on country-specifics, the Fund will deepen its engagement with members, better deliver its knowledge, and ensure faster feedback to policymakers. The Fund continues to refine its core work—surveillance, lending, and capacity building—and to attain greater intellectual and cultural diversity to respond to this changing global environment and its corresponding policy challenges. To further improve services to the membership, Fund activities need to be fully supported by adequate financial, human, budgetary, and technological resources.

Saving from poverty: A critical review of Individual Development Accounts

2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guy Feldman
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Critical Review ◽  
Financial Stability ◽  
The United States ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Individual Development ◽  
Asset Building ◽  
Individual Development Accounts ◽  
Long Term Impact

The much-heralded anti-poverty strategy of asset-building has been adopted by many countries across the world. Asset-building programmes are designed to help low-income families achieve long-term financial stability through savings and asset accumulation. This article offers a comprehensive and critical review of the current state of theory and research on asset-building programmes, with an emphasis on Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) in the United States. Studies of IDAs have involved quantitative evaluations of the programme, focusing on three key topics: the programme’s effects on clients’ savings behaviour, its effects on clients’ outlook on life, and its long-term impact. On the basis of a careful review of these findings, it is argued that the claim that IDA programmes and asset-building in general have the potential to reduce poverty is overrated and premature. The article builds on theoretical insights regarding the nature of neoliberalism to make sense of the picture portrayed in the research literature.

Comparison of perceived employment barriers among low-income jobseekers in the United States and South Korea

2015 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Young P Hong ◽  
In Han Song ◽  
Sangmi Choi ◽  
Jang Ho Park
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Workforce Development ◽  
Low Income ◽  
The United States ◽  
Development Programs ◽  
South Korean ◽  
Employment Barriers ◽  
Five Factors ◽  
Two Samples

The Perceived Employment Barrier Scale (PEBS) has been validated as a tool to assess low-income individuals’ level of employment barriers in the United States. Using samples from workforce development programs in the United States and South Korea, this study aims to examine the comparability of this measure and to compare score differences on the five factors of PEBS between the two samples. Evidence for cross-sample equivalence was found, indicating cross-national comparability. Furthermore, the South Korean sample perceived significantly higher on human capital barriers compared to the United States. Implications for workforce development practice and research in the United States and South Korea are discussed.

scholarly journals An Exploration of Family Factors Related to Emerging Adults’ Religious Self-Identification

Religions ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 172
Author(s):  
Anthony Walker
Keyword(s):  
Emerging Adulthood ◽  
Emerging Adults ◽  
Religious Identity ◽  
Marital Quality ◽  
The United States ◽  
Family Factors ◽  
Identity Exploration ◽  
Beliefs And Values ◽  
The Family ◽  
Religious Ideals

Emerging or young adulthood is a time of identity exploration across a number of domains. Those domains include work, relationships, and beliefs and values. Specifically, emerging adults are tasked with differentiating religious beliefs and values from those of their parents. Much evidence suggests that emerging adults adopt the religious or non-religious ideals they were raised with. Family structure, parental divorce, parental marital quality and parental conflict have all been identified as factors related to degree of religiousness in emerging adulthood. It is less clear how those and other family factors may relate to types of religious identity. Using a subsample of wave 3 of the National Survey of Youth and Religion, researchers identified six types of religiousness in emerging adulthood. To our knowledge, family factors related to this typology have not been thoroughly investigated. Thus, the purpose of this qualitative study is to further explore and describe the family factors related to the six types of religiousness in emerging adulthood using a purposive sample of 49 college students from a large public university in the United States. Qualitative analyses describe themes related to five of the six types. Future directions are discussed.

scholarly journals Emerging Adulthood in Brazilians of Differing Socioeconomic Status: Transition to Adulthood1

2014 ◽  
Vol 24 (59) ◽  
pp. 313-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luciana Dutra-Thomé ◽  
Silvia Helena Koller
Keyword(s):  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Young People ◽  
Emerging Adulthood ◽  
Transition To Adulthood ◽  
Employment Status ◽  
Total Sample ◽  
Porto Alegre ◽  
Identity Exploration ◽  
Status Transition ◽  
Exploratory Investigation

This study was a descriptive exploratory investigation into the transition to adulthood in Brazilian young people of differing socioeconomic status (SES), considering the phenomenon of Emerging Adulthood (EA). The variables analyzed were sociodemographic aspects, perceptions of adulthood, access to technology, and educational and employment status. The sample included 547 young people ranging between 18 and 29 years of age, residents of Porto Alegre (RS), of low and high SES. More than 50% of the total sample reported that they felt in-between adolescence and adulthood, which may indicate the existence of EA in individuals of both SES. However, EA was more likely to be present in high SES contexts. The low SES group presented a tendency to assume adult responsibilities earlier, which blocks their opportunities for experiencing a period of identity exploration.

Considering Identity and Meaning Constructions for Vulnerable Young People

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
pp. 672-698 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debbie Noble-Carr ◽  
Elise Woodman
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Identity Development ◽  
Phenomenological Study ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Ideal Self ◽  
Identity Exploration ◽  
Narrative Approaches ◽  
Identity Constructions ◽  
Loss And Grief

Identity and meaning are fundamental to human experience and are particularly pertinent during adolescence and times of adversity. While identity development and meaning making can be different for vulnerable young people, who experience multiple adverse life events, there is currently little evidence of how these young people construct identity and make meaning from their experiences. This article reports on a phenomenological study, which allowed young people to start from their own understandings of identity and meaning and explore the ways they constructed their sense of self and place in the world. Interviews were conducted with 24 young people from Canberra, Australia. The study found identity constructions were profoundly influenced by an entrenched sense of autonomy, a longing to be the opposite of what they had experienced, and the expectation of living up to their own constructions of an ideal self. The findings strengthen our understanding of identity construction for this group, highlight the value of adopting narrative approaches to identity exploration, and demonstrate the value of incorporating knowledge from the field of loss and grief. Strategies to support vulnerable young people to develop positive, coherent, and achievable identity and meaning constructions are provided.

Identity Development and Well-Being Among Nonreligious and Christian Emerging Adults in the Central United States

2021 ◽  
pp. 216769682094050
Author(s):  
Jordan A. Booker ◽  
Kristen E. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Identity Development ◽  
Emerging Adulthood ◽  
Emerging Adults ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Identities ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Identity Exploration ◽  
Two Samples ◽  
Central United States

Emerging adulthood is an important period for managing the pressing developmental tasks of identity exploration and formation. Affiliation with a religion can inform how emerging adults understand themselves and commit to aspects of their identity, which may have implications for well-being. The present studies tested the ways in which identification with and commitment to Christianity inform identity development (i.e., exploration and commitment) and well-being (i.e., positive affect, negative affect, life satisfaction) among two samples of central U.S. college adults, both concurrently (Studies 1 and 2) and with a 2-month follow-up (Study 2 only). Across studies, self-identification as a Christian and greater commitment to Christianity were positively associated with identity exploration and subjective well-being. Further, indirect effects were supported between Christian affiliation and well-being, given differences in identity exploration. The current studies motivate a continued focus on social identities as contributors to adjustment in emerging adulthood.

Emerging Adulthood Theory and Social Class

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuela du Bois-Reymond
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Class ◽  
Young People ◽  
Emerging Adulthood ◽  
Youth Studies ◽  
The Past ◽  
European Project ◽  
Educational Disadvantage ◽  
The Social

Emerging adulthood theory (EAT) has gained wide support in the social sciences over the past 15 years despite critical comments also being voiced. This contribution positions EAT within the main European traditions of theories about change in the lives of young people. It shows that EAT has antecedents in many of these theories, but without taking social class as thoroughly into account as it should. This is demonstrated by reanalyzing a US survey and by, albeit indirectly, referring to a European project that established a typology on educational disadvantage based on a multilayered methodology. The chapter encourages increasing cooperation between scholars in the field of youth studies in order to both overcome disciplinary rigidity and discourage a naïve reliance on interdisciplinarity as remedy for all problems.

Demonstrating Nutrient Cost Gradients: A Brooklyn Case Study

2014 ◽  
Vol 84 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 244-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Karp ◽  
Gary Wong ◽  
Marguerite Orsi
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Energy Content ◽  
Food Selection ◽  
The United States ◽  
United States Department ◽  
Micronutrient Deficiencies ◽  
Caloric Density ◽  
Low Income Families ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Introduction: Foods dense in micronutrients are generally more expensive than those with higher energy content. These cost-differentials may put low-income families at risk of diminished micronutrient intake. Objectives: We sought to determine differences in the cost for iron, folate, and choline in foods available for purchase in a low-income community when assessed for energy content and serving size. Methods: Sixty-nine foods listed in the menu plans provided by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for low-income families were considered, in 10 domains. The cost and micronutrient content for-energy and per-serving of these foods were determined for the three micronutrients. Exact Kruskal-Wallis tests were used for comparisons of energy costs; Spearman rho tests for comparisons of micronutrient content. Ninety families were interviewed in a pediatric clinic to assess the impact of food cost on food selection. Results: Significant differences between domains were shown for energy density with both cost-for-energy (p < 0.001) and cost-per-serving (p < 0.05) comparisons. All three micronutrient contents were significantly correlated with cost-for-energy (p < 0.01). Both iron and choline contents were significantly correlated with cost-per-serving (p < 0.05). Of the 90 families, 38 (42 %) worried about food costs; 40 (44 %) had chosen foods of high caloric density in response to that fear, and 29 of 40 families experiencing both worry and making such food selection. Conclusion: Adjustments to USDA meal plans using cost-for-energy analysis showed differentials for both energy and micronutrients. These differentials were reduced using cost-per-serving analysis, but were not eliminated. A substantial proportion of low-income families are vulnerable to micronutrient deficiencies.

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