8.5 Análisis de la Demanda y Oferta
8.5.1 Análisis de la Demanda
This paper calls for the need to acknowledge the changing nature of the concept of adulthood. The status is still understood in terms of achieving demographic markers and stationary social positions. However, this interpretation neglects a dimension that young people increasingly identify as the central criteria for adult- hood, that is, individual maturity, sense of responsibility and psychological development. Consequently, young people suffer from the widening discrepancy between their perception of adulthood and pathways of transition, and the expectations the wider socio-political and cultural spheres have set on them. In other words, young people’s innovative patterns of transition are misinterpreted and misrecognised for a failure to integrate in the broader societal sphere and following a deviant lifestyle. As a matter of fact, young peo- ple do not intend to sabotage old patterns of transition or prolong their youth. They are simply establishing new pathways that are more suitable to their own requirements, in response to contemporary socio- economic fluctuations. Many young people, such as research informants, have in fact already begun to re- shape adulthood into a more appropriate archetype, based on available socio-economic possibilities and their perspectives of the status.
The theoretical framework of analysis of transition to adulthood is increasingly irrelevant and anachro- nistic, and thus needs revaluation. Rapid socio-economic changes have provoked a rupture between older standards and the contemporary pathways to come of age. Following the ‘classic’ model of adulthood is rarely possible today (Blatterer 2007b: 63–64). Young people grew up in a socio-economic context that rad- ically differs from the world in which their parents became adults. Yet their experiences are still evaluated from within the framework of the previous generation. This undeniably leads to biased interpretations, since the approach is based on an outdated model (Blatterer 2007b: 112). It fails to give the youth credit for their capabilities and pioneering pathways to adulthood.
The mismatch between the faulty interpretation of youth patterns of transition and the strategies of in- tegration they initiate causes further damages than mere misunderstandings. It contributes to the growing gap between institutions, policies and programmes aimed at young people, for youth experts’ analyses fail to officially recognise young people’s requirements (Furstenberg et al. 2005: 6; Settersten et al. 2005: 536). More empirical qualitative research is necessary to understand present patterns of transition, and young people’s aspirations, expectations and requirements.
Rather than focusing on the potential emergence of a new phase in the life course, it becomes urgent to acknowledge the multidimensional scope of being an adult today. The societal structure is malleable and
131 permeable by wider external fluctuations. History has continuously proved that no socio-economic model is permanent. As such, social concepts are not immune to alterations either. Adulthood is a significant institu- tionalised concept that has regulated the life course for decades. Yet, wider socio-economic forces have contributed to disrupt its nature. It becomes crucial for youth experts to recognise that the concept of adulthood itself is currently undergoing transition and following the laws of transformation.
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