Work, Family Policies and Transitions to Adulthood in Europe Edited by edited by TrudieKnijnBasingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. ISBN: 978‐0‐23‐030025‐5; £55 (hbk).

Abstract

in-depth analysis of eight EU-members, for which there is additional data, based on questionnaires filled by national experts. The first two chapters provide an interesting overview on normative views of adulthood and transition trends in Europe, which allows us to understand how factual transitions may influence normative views on adulthood or vice versa. The remaining chapters detail young adults' limitations in terms of finding secure employment, a stable income, housing and childcare, and how current social policies address these factors, each chapter revealing differences between countries.While the strengths of this study are undoubtedly the wealth of information and the contextualization of young adults' transitions, the study could perhaps have attempted to re-evaluate the most traditional definitions of adulthood in the conclusions chapter, particularly in view of their policy recommendations. The authors consider that defining adulthood is a 'risky affair' (p. 9) opting instead, following the mainstream demographic literature, for using broad age categories to frame and interpret the traditional passages into adulthood. Moreover, the separate analysis of each event, assumingly due to methodological and interpretative reasons, contrasts with their own and other authors' observation of progressive de-standardization of the transition to adulthood (Rindfuss 1991) and heterogeneity of transitions between individuals and countries (Billari and Liefbroer 2010). A more holistic view of the passages in the conclusions chapter would have, perhaps, conveyed a less standardized idea of the transition to adulthood, thus stressing the complexities and degree of relatedness between transitions. This should prove important for the development of reconciliation policies. Similarly, to better explain country and policy differences, the conclusions would have benefitted from a summary integrating the adulthood passages and policy paradigms, as done in Billari (2004: 21). Lastly, whilst the book's aim is to provide a multilevel and comparative overview of the transition to adulthood, the descriptive nature of the book is somewhat surprising, given the large number of countries studied and modern statistical techniques for integrating micro and macro levels of analysis.Overall, in a context of high economic uncertainty and youth dissatisfaction, this book draws timely attention to young adults' struggles and the failure and successes of EU social policies to address their risks. The wealth of information presented in each chapter and the clarity of the writing offers readers an important and valuable source on how young individuals experience each passage of adulthood in Europe.