Socioeconomic consequences of the process of transition to adulthood

Abstract Life course theorists have argued that the timing and sequencing of major life events have consequences for individuals. Analyzing data from a 15-year follow-up study of high school students originally surveyed in 1957–1958 and resurveyed in 1973–1974, we examine the effects of the timing and sequencing of role changes during the transition to adulthood on adult socioeconomic attainment. Our findings provide no support for the general hypothesis that individuals who experience events early or late relative to their peers or individuals who experience events in an atypical sequence suffer negative consequences. What we find are associations between the timing and sequencing of particular role changes and adult socioeconomic attainment. Although most effects of the timing and sequencing of role changes are mediated via educational attainment, variation in the process of leaving school and entering the labor force bears an independent relationship to male earnings. Entry into adult family roles and the timing of initiation of the process of entry into those roles also bears an independent relationship to the earnings of both sexes but in opposite directions.