David Brooks, in a recent op-ed in the New York Times, summarized findings from new research on the study of the transition to adulthood. He focuses on "the odyssey," or the "decade of wandering that frequently takes place between adolescence and adulthood." Like in our class discussion, he notes that the pathways through this decade are diverse, and that markers of adulthood are increasingly delayed. In 1960, roughly 70 percent of 30-year-olds had left home, achieved financial self-sufficiency, married, and had children. By 2000, fewer than 40 percent of 30-year-olds had done the same. He even suggests that "with a little imagination it's possible even for baby boomers to understand what it's like to be in the middle of the odyssey years. It's possible to see that this period of improvisation is a sensible response to modern conditions."
After spending some time in FMSC 381 this semester, you might ask yourself, what is missing from Brooks' reflection on the odyssey period? One letter in response to this article came from Laurence Steinberg, a professor of psychology at Temple University in Philadelphia. He wrote:For young people from the upper-middle class, whose parents can afford to bankroll them while they experiment with careers, relationships and identities, the period between adolescence and adulthood may in fact be an odyssey of the sort that David Brooks has described. But research shows that this trend is far from universal, and before we accept the notion that a new stage of human development has emerged, it is informative to ask just how widespread it is.
Recent empirical analyses indicate that about 40 percent of American young people follow this pattern. Poor inner-city and rural youth, as well as young people who live in the so-called red states, are far less likely than their advantaged, suburban and blue-state counterparts to delay the transition into conventional work and family roles, both because they choose not to and because they simply can't afford to. Perhaps over time, the odyssey stage will come to characterize the life course of the majority of young Americans, just as adolescence began as a middle-class institution and spread to less affluent groups, but it hasn't happened yet.
Read Brooks' article first. If this decade of odyssey isn't common for all youth, how would you describe the transition into adulthood for young adults with few resources? What does fluidity and improvisation mean for young adults who do not have a support net of a promising career; an undergraduate or graduate degree; family members who will help with a downpayment on a home; or a potential partner with equal or greater earning potential? Is the transition to adulthood a time period in which, increasingly, the lives of advantaged and disadvantaged young adults diverge? How and why?
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"The Odyssey Years" by David Brooks states that there is a new life phase which takes place between adolescence and adulthood, and is characterized by a decade of wandering. However, not everyone has the luxury of "wandering" and figuring out what they want to do with their life because it usually requires resources and financial backing from one's parents. This means that going through an "odyssey" phase is primarily for privileged kids who can afford to delay things like working, marriage, and starting a family, and that this is not a common developmental phase of life. Adolescents from underprivileged areas who do not have the same resources may not experience this odyssey phase at all. Instead, transition to adulthood may occur earlier for these young adults and certain circumstances may require them to grow up very fast. Some get low minimum wage jobs to support their family before finishing high school and do not go to college or experiment with different career paths. Most cannot afford to delay the transition from adolescence to working adults and may start families or have children early on. Without a support net of a promising future, the transition is less fluid for these individuals. Rather than having a slow and gradual transition helped by support from one's parents, young adults who don't have those resources may experience a much harder transition that requires more improvisation when it comes to their future. They can only depend on themselves and improvise how to support themselves with little planning or preparation. They need to improvise when it comes to jobs and having a place to stay. I agree that during this transition stage is when it becomes increasingly apparent how different the lives of advantaged and disadvantaged young adults are. This divergence may be because young adults who are advantaged are brought up with higher expectations for what their future will be like so they are in search of the "perfect" career and falling in love with the one and more confident that they have a bright future ahead of them. On the other hand, young adults who are disadvantaged may not be reaching for those same goals. This was illustrated in Amazing Grace when one of the young boys he interviewed aspired to have a blue collar job working at the incinerator.
The odyssey is defined as the decade of wandering from adolescence to adulthood in which young adults experiment with education, careers, and relationships in an attempt to find themselves before entering into adulthood.
The experience of a decade-long odyssey, however, is not available to many poor youth with limited family resources. The odyssey of middle class children in college is viewed as normal and appropriate. However, for young, working adults with few resources, an odyssey would be viewed as idle and inappropriate. Young adults with few resources are often forced to enter immediately into the workforce, often in low wage jobs with limited opportunities for advancement. Employment opportunities have been further diminished as a result of globalization, particularly outsourcing. According to Shipler, in previous decades, men could make good livings by working with their hands as skilled laborers. However, since many of the jobs have shipped overseas and machines have automated production, job prospects have decreased. For many young adults with limited resources, their odyssey involves marrying and experimenting sexually. Because they cannot afford college and do not have financial support from their parents, they reach out to others for intimacy and experimentation.
According to Erikson, during adolescence and young adulthood, humans pass through the stages of identity vs. role confusion and intimacy vs. isolation. Individuals with family resources are able to pass through these stages under the guidance of higher education and the support of family while those without resources must discover themselves alone. As .313 said, fluidity is limited and improvisation is required. There are more interruptions in the lives of those with few family resources and the transition to adulthood is not smoothed by the financial and emotional help of parents. Young adults are unable to adequately plan for the future because they are forced to focus on the present. Furthermore, higher levels of stress surmount because of the lack of a backup plan or savings.
The transition to young adulthood is a time period in which the lives of advantaged and disadvantaged youth diverge. First, young adulthood is the first time when disadvantaged youth lose many of the government benefits that kept them equal to advantaged youth throughout childhood, such as SCHIP, WIC, and public education. Second, the presence or absence of postsecondary education leads to great divergence in the lives of youth. According to Seccombe, each year of education beyond high school leads to a 10 percent increase in annual income. Because living at the mean annual salary in the United States increasingly requires college education, differences in higher education will result in diverging paths of advantaged and disadvantaged youth. Lastly, family wealth is often transferred during the transition to young adulthood, contributing to diverging pathways. Whereas families with resources and wealth can offer a safety net and send young adults into the world with start-up money, families with few resources cannot. Instead, their children often start with little resources and must accumulate wealth on their own. I also agree with the post by .313 that expectations lead to divergence among advantaged and disadvantaged youth. .313 utilized a culture of poverty explanation whereby expectations are culturally perpetuated but arise out of a reaction to structural differences. Working parents and middle class parents teach their children different values based on their views of their place in society. that may translate to diverging pathways. For example, working class parents focus on their children’s outward conformity while middle class parents focus more on developing their children’s curiosity, self-expression, and self-control. The patterns of interaction between parents and children may lead to differences that become transparent in the transition from childhood to young adulthood and continue throughout life.
David Brooks introduces the idea of an odyssey that adolescents go through before their transition into adulthood. To get by, adolescents “wander” in society while they receive assistance from their family. However, as stated from another blogger, I agree that not everyone has the opportunity to receive assistance during this transition period. Typically, individuals of a higher socioeconomic status are the only groups of people that can actually receive assistance from their families. However, individuals with a lower socioeconomic status typically are not presented with the opportunity to “wander in society because the means to do so are not present. As a result, they are forced to either enter the labor force earlier than the average age while taking low paying jobs. From what I see, most the individuals with fewer opportunities typically take jobs that may not necessarily be their first choice but rather forced to take because of their lack of resources.
Because of the differences in resources, the option of fluidity is limited which in turn makes improvisation the only option that these the individuals have.
I do believe that there are some form of divergence within the transition into adulthood between the advantaged and the disadvantaged. These differences between the two groups could be attributed to the different backgrounds that the different groups experience, such as values, beliefs or behaviors that persist. For instance, people of a lower socioeconomic tend to resort to the only solutions that they know. On the other hand, people with an abundant amount of resources are introduced to more solutions or opportunities. Mainly, I think that the divergence is primarily attributed to an abundant amount of opportunities or lack of financial opportunities for some.
I agree that the decade of odyssey is not common for everyone. Young adults with fewer resources may not be able to attend college due to financial reasons. In addition they may have to find a job immediately after high school in order to help out or pull there own share in there current home. Moving out may not be an option because their mom could be struggling to pay the bills and it would be wrong to leave. These youth may be trying to figure out what they essentially want to do with their life and they may be looking for love, but in the mean time mommy and daddy is not taking care of them. Fluidity and improvisation means nothing to young adults who do not have a support net of a promising career, an undergraduate or graduate degree, family members who will help with a down payment on a home, or a potential partner with equal or greater earning potential because they lack mobility and options. It is difficult to get to the top when all the odds are against you. They may
have to put their own goals, ambitions, and dreams aside to help there immediate family. The transition to adulthood is a time period in which, increasingly, the lives of advantaged and disadvantaged young adults diverge. This is especially true because the gap between the advantaged and the disadvantage is large; therefore their lives go in two completely different directions.
According to David Brooks, the one newer stage in life that people do not have a clear understanding of is the "odyssey" stage. During this stage, the adolescence really finds out what they plan on becoming in their future. It is a time to focus on themselves, with trial and errors. It is when they find themselves by "wandering."
Unfortunately, the “odyssey” stage is not available to those who are poor. Adolescence who grew up in a very poor family, with little resources are not able to “wander.” Instead, they are forced to grew up quickly, enter the workforce, and get paid minimum wage. Since they grew up so underprivileged, they must quickly start working and getting paid to support their family and help out as much as they can.
Just like what .313 said, I agree that the “odyssey” stage is not meant to everyone. While those are fortunate enough to experience this stage in life, it is not for everyone. Those are not able to go through this stage. .313 mentions that they are not able to wander because they do not have time to waste and that they do not have a support or a network of people that can be their background support. These people usually end up marrying earlier than those who do “wander” in life. They start their jobs a lot sooner, as well. These underprivileged adolescences are not able to attend college, because they cannot afford them. Since their resources are so scarce, they compensate by engaging in sexual activities, getting married, and simply experimenting sexually.
However, those who are able to “wander” do have financial support from their parents. It’s not so much that they are wasting time, but rather find themselves. Because they have the resources and the tools available, taking their time to enter into adulthood is not a problem.
The transition into adulthood, the “odyssey” stage, is an advantage for those who are able to go through this stage. Being an adult is no easy task and being forced to enter the workforce, without having the time to “wander” can be dangerous as well. By experimenting in the “odyssey” stage and with the support of their parents and whomever, they do not have to worry about such things. However, as mentioned before, not everyone are able to “wander” in life.
It is difficult to add more to this topic given bloggers 313 and 240's excellent and thorough responses. I agree with Brooks that there has been an emergence of a period of wandering, which has been prompted largely by social and economic changes within society. The period of emerging adulthood has been extended and is evident in the demographic trends sweeping the nation, but this is largely a phenomenon for the middle and upper classes. Young people are staying in school longer, which has led to subsequent delays in career entry, marriage, and childbearing. This can be described as a period of wandering, as Brooks puts it, as individuals are spending more time developing their education, passions, and plans for the future. This is a luxury often financed by affluent parents.
For young people of lower classes, however, wandering is a privilege. Due to structural barriers and lack of access to parental financial support, they must begin their adult lives right away, sometimes even before they have finished high school, if they have to help support their families. Their lives follow a more traditional and rigid trajectory dictated by the lack of opportunities and choices they have. With limited access to middle class avenues for success and prestige such as higher educational degrees and promising careers, they must find other socially appropriate avenues to mark their transition into adulthood. This often translates to abrupt and early entry into marriage and childbearing which are some of the few options the economically disadvantaged have for attaining the social markers of adulthood. Young people from the working class must also find work, but this is work for necessity, typically in low-wage dead-end jobs versus the career tracks of the middle class.
These class differences mark an increasing divergence in the lives of advantaged and disadvantaged young people. More affluent families can support a child's wandering years as they develop their education and plan for the long-term future. Young adults from affluent families also inherit wealth, as well as social and cultural capital from their parents which are important advantages. As blogger 313 mentioned, different parenting styles as well as structural differences in opportunities play a role. Sociologist Annette Laureau (2003) has explored these differences in her research, showing how the style of "concerted cultivation" practiced by middle and class families prepares children for success in society and contributes to an emerging sense of entitlement that helps them to develop independence and assertiveness. By contrast, working class parents show more concern for their children's natural growth processes, and stress obedience, conformity, and respect (as 240 mentioned) which is suited to more blue-collar work with little autonomy.
In summary, both cultural and structural theories help explain the divergence of middle class and working class families. As described in Seccombe Chapter Four, Oscar Lewis's culture of poverty theory explains that structural inequalities are the root causes of these differences, but cultural mechanisms develop to help economically disadvantaged families cope with the realities of limited opportunities and are then perpetuated between generations.
With the decline of well-paying blue-collar factory jobs and the rise of low-paying ones in the service sector, a college degree becomes ever more crucial to be competitive in this economy and earn a decent wage. Unfortunately, this is a luxury for many working class young people and is a driving force of the divergence in transition to adulthood and life outcomes.
In the book “The Odyssey Years” David Brooks states that there is a new transition that takes place between adolescence and adulthood, which can be described as a decade of wandering. I agree with blogger 313 that not everyone has the luxury to wonder for a decade, therefore, this theory that David Brooks cannot be universal. I would say that the transition from adolescence into adulthood for a person with few resources probably goes unnoticed, as blogger 313 has said some people may never go through the “odyssey” stage. Many students with few resources have to learn to “grow-up” fast. Some people have to learn to be both a child and adult earlier in life. For example, there are some adolescents that have to work to help support their family as well as go to school to get an education. Though these children may still have the same expectations from their parents regarding school and getting a good education, they are probably between a rock and a hard place. Having to decide whether to better themselves or to better their family. In most cases I would assume that the child picks to better their family, causing them to choose to stop going to school after high school. This decision then hurts their opportunities for the rest of their lives. After making this decision, they then begin in their vicious cycle of the 9 to 5 job, and living paycheck to paycheck. This goes hand in hand with what Lawrence Steinberg said, that the experiences of children from the upper-middle class whose parents can afford to help them out financially is very different from those children who do not have parents to help them financially.
I agree with the notion that the odyssey period is not common for all youth. As a whole, we do tend to see more disadvantaged young adults making that transition more quickly than more advantaged young adults because of the lack of resources available to them. By disadvantaged vs. advantaged, I mean poor vs. wealthy. As Blogger .318 mentions, youth who lack resources may not have the financial means to “wander” before establishing financial independence, a family and children, and so forth. They may not be lucky enough to have family support, a college degree, or a promising career so they are pushed to immediately enter adulthood to survive and support themselves. But who may lack such resources? Can young adults from wealthy families have a shortage in such resources? Yes they can, so I have to disagree with Blogger 322 who claims that the odyssey period is restricted from people living in poverty. We can’t just say that because someone is from a poor family that they will have to immediately enter adulthood. They are most likely to do so, but the prediction really depends on a family’s structure and aspirations.
There are some youth from wealthy backgrounds, but they may jump right into adulthood because they lack assistance from their parents or because they‘ve found a mate to build a future with. Sometimes, other factors come into view such as culture and customs. Or pregnancy, which may cause adolescents, poor or rich, to seek more maturity, a better job, a house, etc. Many disadvantaged young adults actually progress through the odyssey phase. I can look at my own situation to argue my claim. My family is not rich and I was raised by a single mother who did not receive a college degree and does not make a spectacular salary. Yes, I could have looked for a job to help my mother pay bills and keep up the house, but my mother and I had different goals in mind. We both wanted me to do better than she so I could live better than she. Therefore, she encouraged me to pursue higher education while she continued to care for the home…even if that meant her working two jobs and minimizing her recreational time.
Luckily for me, I have a great support system behind me, and my mother is willing to make sacrifices so that I can be prosperous. I think there are many other families out there similar to mines. Although as adolescents make their transition to adulthood we see a gap between the disadvantaged and the advantaged in terms of the length of time to make the transition to adulthood, I won’t say that the gap is increasing. I would like to think that it is decreasing because people are adapting to the new times and changes. Unlike the conditions of many years, people, now, are not likely to enter a family business or find work with great pay with minimal education. Those high paying jobs are now requiring degrees and skills. And every family can see these changes that are before us regardless of their economic status, and personally, I see more and more parents from both sides allowing more odyssey periods to emerge to benefit their children.
Unlike some of my classmates’ views that young disadvantaged adults do not have an odyssey period I believe that they are constantly in a slightly different version of the odyssey stage. I believe that when you don’t have the supports such as a degree or family help, income stability is a big concern. Because of that lack of stability and security, these young adults are constantly searching for a different, more secure career. It may not be searching for “fun” as privileged young adults are able to do, but there is still a searching period. While they are not able to take lapses in employment like those with parents supporting them, they are still looking for new opportunities to help keep them afloat. Young adults with a support system may leave a job only after a few months if they are not happy with it, even if they have no other job to go directly into. Young adults without a support system do not have that option and must stick through a negative work experience until they find another opportunity, which in my view is a type of odyssey itself.
As several classmates pointed out these disadvantaged young adults do have to grow up sooner and take on typical “adult roles” at much earlier ages. From personal experience I can support this observation, but add that it doesn’t always lead to speedy accomplishment of those life milestones. In some cases I believe it leads to more uncertainty and more delay in completing those milestones. Privileged young adults are comfortable enough with lower hierarchy needs and are able to more quickly move on to upper level needs. Just as Brooks characterizes “odyssey generation” adults, these individuals’ purpose and direction also becomes blurred.
I would describe the transition into adulthood for young adults with few resources as entering into the adulthood stage a lot sooner than those who experience the odyssey phase. This is primarily because these underprivileged young adults do not have the financial means and capabilities to afford to wander or explore their options before settling down. They may not have family support or degree of higher education that may help cushion their personal ventures. Fluidity and improvisation for young adults who do not have a support net of a promising career, degree of higher education, family financial support, or potential partner all means that they have to work harder in order to achieve what they want out of life. I agree with blogger .313 in that this also means there will be less fluidity and more improvisation for these individuals. These individuals must depend solely on themselves and make decisions that are based on their own best interests. However, this does not mean that young adults living in poverty altogether may not experience the odyssey phase; they are just more unlikely to. The transition to adulthood is therefore a time period in which the lives of advantaged and disadvantaged young adults increasingly diverge. This is mainly due to the lack of opportunities and expectations presented to the disadvantaged. On the other hand, the advantaged young adults who were brought up with more opportunities and family support have higher expectations to be more successful, which may be why they go through the odyssey phase-in fear of disappointing others, being judged, and being looked down upon.
Those with few resources make the transition from into adulthood almost immediately because they have no choice but to. It has been said that people in certain situations, “have to grow up too quickly.” They jump into the work force and sometimes they struggle, but like a baby who is learning to walk they fall down and get back up on their own until they learn to walk. Parents don’t teach their children how to walk they provide the environment to.
Young adults who do not have the safety net of a promising career; undergraduate or graduate degree; family members who will help with a downpayment on a home; or a potential partner with equal or greater earning potential do not have the fluidity that their advantaged counterparts do. The fluidity that they have is more like jello where they can move but they are still confined to a certain area. Whereas their upper middle class counterparts have fluidity like water, free to do whatever they want. It is unlikely that advantaged youths and disadvantaged youths will ever have their transition period be the same. It is likely that as the rich get richer their transition period will be longer, and the transition period of the disadvantaged will be even shorter than it is now. The resources that the family has is what allows the young adult to test the waters, and if those resources do not exist the young adult can’t always afford to take time trying to figure out what they want to do with their lives.
There is a counter example though. If a student is poor enough and they get into college and FAFSA pays for them to go to school, they can spend more time in college which gives them more time to figure out what they want to do with their lives. I know that my friend decided not to graduate this year because he has no idea what he is going to do with his life once her graduates, and while I didn’t either until a few weeks ago, my parents pay for me to go to school, and paying extra tuition out of pocket when I could graduate with a degree didn’t make sense to me.
The transition into adulthood for those with limited resources must be viewed as akin to all other situations and periods of life in which one lacks sufficient socioeconomic security; it can be nothing other than stressful and full of pressured decision-making. One would imagine that if a person and their family lacked financial security and possibly lacked proper education beyond high school, one's decisions as far as jobs and careers would be severely limited. One would probably fall into the first job offered and thus, fall into that career. When one is lacking in professional and educational training, however, the variety of the job market would be severely reduced; a young adult from a family that can't afford to bankroll him/her after high school and into early adulthood would most likely end up doing whatever immediate job he/she can find just to make ends meet. It is in this sense that young adults who lack a support net, a degree, or more fortunate family members will be severely limited in terms of improvisation and fluidity, that is, having the ability to switch jobs, career fields, and locations based on personal interests. I highly doubt someone in a position that dire would have the luxury of interviewing for a job in LA when they find themselves "bored" of the nine-to-five in New York.
The transitional period between adolescence and adulthood, one with which we are all about to become painfully familiar, is a luxury, no matter how it is perceived. The mere fact that I'm writing this right now, that I'm at a major university, worried about exams and school work, and not worried about missing the New Jersey Transit #70 bus to my graveyard shift at a Taco Bell in Newark, attests to the blatant diversion of paths between young adults who are fortunate enough to be in a position of financial security and those who are not. Furthermore, this rift of inequality bodes none too well for the young adults who are a layoff and cashed paycheck away from joining the ranks of the new poor. But how do we fix this? How can we put these young adults who might be living fully on their own means on the path to becoming socioeconomically secure? Honestly, I have no idea.
Young adults with few resources do not have the leisure of the ‘decade of odyssey.’ Their parents do not have the financial means to help support them as they try out different educational opportunities, job opportunities, world-travel or other various ideas and aspirations. These young adults only have themselves to further their own lives—they don’t have more established adults to help them along the way. Their transition into adulthood is less about fulfillment and personal choice as it is about survival and making critical decisions about how to get by. For them, there is very little fluidity. They simply have to find a job to make enough money to either support a family, or possibly pursue an education. Their lack of a support net puts more pressure on them as individuals. If they want to improvise, they run the risk of not having somewhere to live, or not being able to afford their housing or food expenses. The transition to adulthood is a time period in which the lives of advantaged and disadvantaged young adults diverge. Advantaged young adults have safety nets to fall back on—survival is not riding on their every decision. As their families have more and more money, they have more and more time to decide what to do in life. Oppositely, disadvantaged young adults do not have any other support systems set up in case of a failed decision. Their families are not able to support them anymore, and they don’t have time to waste in figuring out what to do and how to support themselves. As their families get less and less money, they have to grow up and take responsibility for their own lives at a younger age, with more pressure than ever before.
The transition into adulthood can be extremely hard if a kid does not have the basic needs of life. A child’s job growing up should not have to be worrying about where they are going to get there food from; they should be focused on school. Have a supportive family; good resources, etc can have a huge impact on how the child focuses on things during their life. If they are going to be focusing on daily survival, they may find it hard to focus on school, which is important for them to hopefully find a good job. It is possible for this kids without resources to become successful adults, but they process is not as fluid as it could be. Lives of how privileged kids and underprivileged kids diverge in many ways. In high school, I had the advantage of going to a phenomenal private school and the only worry on my mind was getting into college. My parents were extremely supportive of all the decisions I had in my life, and I had great college advisors in high school to help me make a good decision. I saw many of my friends back home who came from Hispanic background struggling a lot. Their parents would constantly be at work, and my friends were constantly worrying about how they were going to pay for stuff. Eventually many of them had to go to community college and get jobs instead of going to a 4-year institution. I agree to .242 who find it difficult to help people in this underprivileged position. As college students as .242 states that we do not worry about things such catching the bus to make it work on time. Is there anything that we as privileged people can do to help the underprivileged?
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