Authors

Sigita Kraniauskiene¹;  ¹ Klaipeda University, Lithuania

Discussion

The postmodern transformations of the life course in the 21st century do not indicate a general one-way trend towards heterogeneous and individualised experiences on individual life paths of the generation of Lithuanians born after 1980. Survey data suppose some degree of standardisation of adulthood trajectories. The most compressed and standardised events are the end of education and the start of a full-time job. Marriage and childbearing continue to be postponed and destandardised. How is this "semi-standardised" model of the transition to adulthood experienced on an individual level now, and what features of social change/changing society do these experiences reveal? The analysis of life history narratives of people born in 1980-2000 is used to answer these questions. The chapter discusses the following topics and questions: the consequences of the transition from the Soviet standardised to the post-Soviet individualised and destandardised timetable for the transition to adulthood; the normative schedule of transitions "visible" in life stories now - what course of transitions and what level of standardisation of these transitions does it presuppose? To what extent is the timetable of transitions individualised and reflects postmodern life course choices? How does gender structure this individualisation? How do the individual demographic calendar of transition to adulthood and the sense of adulthood differ, and how synchronous are these two experiences? The concept of adulthood presented by the respondents - from demographic characteristics to psychological traits, the difference between maturity and adulthood. How much conflict exists between the normative pressure of adulthood and emerging adulthood in Lithuania?