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Completed adulthood & public policies. How institutional and policy instruments facilitate the educational, vocational, family and civic life of Polish young adults?

Completed adulthood & public policies. How institutional and policy instruments facilitate the educational, vocational, family and civic life of Polish young adults?

Jolanta Grotowska-Leder, Agnieszka Dziedziczak-Foltyn, Marcin Kotras, Marcin Gońda

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The monograph is concerned with the phenomenon of transition to adulthood of young Poles and reaching the stage of completed adulthood, i.e. being economically and socially independent. The study is the first comprehensive presentation of this complex process in Poland by applying a sociological perspective, public policies analysis, assessments of young adults and representatives of institutions providing support for various life difficulties. The monograph is based primarily on qualitative (narrative and group interviews) and quantitative (statistical) data. The publication has a scientific and applied character. The book may be of interest to both academics, mainly sociologists, demographers and social politicians, as well as young people and practitioners involved in organising support for young people who experience difficulties in their everyday life during the transition to adulthood.

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This is a pioneering book on the process of transition to stabilised/completed adulthood, socio­economic and family conditions and effects in a Poland undergoing profound economic, political and socio-cultural changes.

From the review by prof. Wielisława Warzywoda-Kruszyńska

The reviewed work emanates originality and a non-standard approach both to the theory, the research itself and the presentation of results. Reading this monograph […] leads to the conclusion thot there is no similar work in Poland, and one may risk a thesis that there is no similar work in the EU, and it is good that it will be published in English, inspiring researchers and analysts to […] reflect on life at different stages of development within the human life cycle.

From the review by prof. Krzysztof Czekaj

Introduction: About the problem of achieving adulthood and the project 9

 

PART I. CONCEPTUAL AND METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK  17

 

Chapter 1. Transition into adulthood – theoretical frameworks          19

    1. Understanding the complete transition into adulthood       19

1.1.1. Adulthood as a stage of psycho-social development  19

1.1.2. Adulthood as a social phenomenon/institution         20

1.1.3. Adulthood as a socio-cultural construct      21

1.1.4. Models of understanding adulthood          21

    1. Criteria and markers of adulthood        22

1.2.1. Objective criteria for adulthood    22

1.2.2. Subjective criteria for adulthood   24

    1. Theoretical approaches to the transition into adulthood     25

1.3.1. Life course and life course regime 25

1.3.2. Concepts of entering adulthood    28

1.3.3. Patterns of entering adulthood     30

 

Chapter 2. Research methods and procedures             37

 

PART II. THE TRANSITION INTO ADULTHOOD IN THE EXPERIENCES OF POLES        43

 

Chapter 3. Context and determinants of the process of entering adulthood in Poland  45

    1. Cultural context       47
    2. Structural context     49
    3. Political context        51

 

Chapter 4. Schooling and adult education      53

4.1. The education situation of young adult Poles in public statistics         54

    1. Selected theoretical reflections and results of empirical studies of educational careers     58

4.2.1. General education           60

4.2.2. Secondary education       62

4.2.3. Higher education            64

4.2.4. Adult education 65

    1. Young adults’ educational paths 66

4.3.1. Paths of stopping at the level of primary education     67

4.3.2. Paths of achieving secondary education       69

4.3.3. Higher education paths   71

 

Chapter 5. Finding work and building a career            75

    1. The labour market of young Poles in public statistics           76
      1. Economically active young adults  77

5.1.2. Young adult temporary and part-time employees       78

5.1.3. The unemployed and inactive young adults  80

    1. Selected theoretical and empirical analyses of professional careers    82

5.2.1. Categories describing the course of professional life    83

5.2.2. Types of career paths      84

    1. Young adult career paths         87

5.3.1. Job plans         87

5.3.2. Ways to look for a job      89

5.3.3. Timing and linearity of entering the labour market      90

5.3.4. First professional experience         90

    1. Young adults’ professional pathways – between traditional and postmodern pathways    93

5.4.1. The relative stability career          94

5.4.2. The permanent mobility career     96

    1. Profesional career of young women – between professional and family roles     102
    2. Job satisfaction        107

 

Chapter 6. Household and family formation   111

    1. Household formation  111

6.1.1. Household formation as a stage in achieving completed adulthood         111

6.1.2. The housing situation of young adult Poles in public statistics    112

6.1.3. Paths to getting one’s own housing 115

6.1.4. Prolonged stay in a family home (nesters)     119

6.1.5. Perception of the state’s support    123

    1. Family formation       124

6.2.1. The family situation of young adult Poles in public statistics      125

6.2.2. Forms of family life        130

6.2.3. Parenthood in achieving adulthood and stabilising family life   135

6.2.4. Split families and single parenthood          138

6.2.5. Perception of the state’s support   139

 

Chapter 7. Young adults in the public and political sphere      143

    1. Young adults’ issues in political parties’ programmes and manifestos 144
    2. How young adults are presented in political discourse       149
    3. The political participation of young adults           158
    4. Conventional political participation       160
    5. Reasons for the low level of political participation 162
    6. Young adults’ attitudes towards politics and policy            166

 

Chapter 8. Paths to reaching adulthood           173

    1. Young adult markers of adulthood        173
    2. Young adults’ concepts of entering adulthood      174
    3. Young adults’ pathways into adulthood  176
    4. Foster care leavers’ pathways into adulthood      182

8.4.1. Pathways of transitioning from education to the labour market 184

8.4.2. Pathways to establishing one’s own household and starting a family      186

 

PART III. PUBLIC POLICIES FOR COMPLETED ADULTHOOD IN POLAND. CONCLUSIONS AND DISCUSSIONS             189

 

Chapter 9. Public policies for completed adulthood in Poland. Conclusions and Discussions  191

    1. Public policy and the life course approach          191
    2. The post-transformation models of Polish social policy      193
    3. Mapping public policies for young adults 196

9.3.1. Educational regulations  197

9.3.2. Labour market regulations          198

9.3.3. Housing regulations      199

9.3.4. Family regulations         200

9.3.5. Other public policy instruments    201

9.4. Interviewees’ evaluation of social policy  210

 

Conclusions. Proposals concerning social policy          213

 

References       215

 

List of tables      239

 

Appendices       241

Appendix 1. List of interviewees (IDI)    241

Appendix 2. List of interviews (FGI)       250

Appendix 3. In-depth interview (IDI) scenario     252

Appendix 4. Focus group interview (FGI) scenarios           256

  • Titel: Completed adulthood & public policies. How institutional and policy instruments facilitate the educational, vocational, family and civic life of Polish young adults?
  • Autor: Jolanta Grotowska-Leder, Agnieszka Dziedziczak-Foltyn, Marcin Kotras, Marcin Gońda
  • ISBN: 978-83-8220-987-7, 9788382209877
  • Veröffentlichungsdatum: 2022-10-11
  • Format: E-book
  • Artikelkennung: e_2y74
  • Verleger: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego