Moving into adulthood in a southern European country: transitions in Portugal

This article analyses how young people progress to adult life in Portuguese society. It is based on the main conclusions of sociological research into transitions to adulthood in Portugal, a society that is itself passing through far-reaching and rapid transition, both economically and culturally. In this article, analysis of transitions to adulthood focuses on four central dimensions - education, work, family, and gender. After that, an attempt to create a typology of modes of transition to adult life is done on a final section. The typology is presented as a way of analysing the complex forms through which those different dimensions are articulated and intertwined along the young people's pathway to adulthood.