Structural and cultural boundaries can limit the extent to which young people experience emerging adulthood. Economic necessity may keep them from continuing their education and/or putting off finding a permanent job, whereas cultural norms stressing family commitments may restrict experimentation and self-focus. Whilst the concept of emerging adulthood was originally developed in the US, many studies since have demonstrated the presence of a similar period of life for young people in Europe, e.g. Finland (Fadjukoff et al., 2007), Italy (Lanz and Tagliabue 2007), Czech Republic (Macek, Bejcek, and Vanickova 2007), and in Argentina (Facio et al. 2007), Mexico (Fierro Arias and Moreno Hernandez 2007), and China (Nelson, Badger, and Wu 2004). (For a review see Arnett 2011). However, whilst in Western industrialized countries we would expect to see young people identifying with emerging adulthood, and thus it is highly likely young people in The Netherlands experience a period of emerging adulthood, it does not follow that all groups within Western societies experience emerging adulthood in the same way. One group which may experience emerging adulthood differently is those with low socioeconomic status (SES). Economic constraints and educational shortcomings may accelerate adolescents’ transition into adulthood. Bynner (2005) critiques the concept of emerging adulthood on this basis. If, due to lack of social, economic or human capital, lower class youths are excluded from many
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of the options upper and middle class emerging adults explore, this period may not feel like a time of possibility or identity exploration. Arnett (2014, 2015) found that lower-class emerging adults are less positive about their lives, and experience less fun, satisfaction and excitement, that their employment experiences are more unstable and they report more depression. However, they also report being more optimistic that their lives will be better than those of their parents (Arnett, 2014). Reifman and colleagues (2007) found that American working class emerging adults experienced their lives as more negative, unstable and less self-focused than upper or middle class emerging adults. Whether these differences hold for a Dutch sample remains to be seen. The greater level of equality in the Netherlands (World Bank, 2014) suggests differences would be smaller than in the US. Furthermore, the affordability of the Dutch education system contrasts with that of the US (OECD 2013), one of the factors Arnett (2015) found lower-class American emerging adults experienced negatively. On the other hand, the more structured education system in The Netherlands compared to the US (van der Velden, Büchner, & Traag, 2014) may work to restrict choices for emerging adults and create diverse emerging adulthood experiences across levels of SES.
Ethnic minorities commonly have low SES. Whilst all emerging adults experience difficulty finding fulfilling employment (Arnett 2015) immigrants, be they first or second generation, generally experience greater economic hardship and more restricted pathways to successful education and/or employment, and this is no different in The Netherlands (CBS 2013)(CBS, 2013). As a result, we would expect the emerging adulthood experience of ethnic minorities to be different from the majority ethnic group. However, differences between ethnic minorities and the indigenous population are not solely economic. Cultural differences between countries, and between ethnic groups within a country, are likely to play a role in whether and how emerging adulthood is experienced.
Several studies on emerging adulthood carried out in non-western countries, found differences in how young people experience this period. Nelson and colleagues (2004) found Chinese emerging adults placed greater emphasis on collectivist goals and showed greater commitment to others, indicating that this period is experienced as less self-focused than in the US. Similarly, Argentinian emerging adults viewed this period of life as more other-focused and less unstable than Americans (Facio et al. 2007). However, a study carried out in Mexico (Fierro Arias and Moreno Hernandez 2007) concluded that Mexican emerging adults experienced this period similarly to Americans, as one of freedom, independence and possibilities.
Aside from looking at cultural differences in emerging adulthood between countries differences between ethnic groups within the US have been examined. In a study asking young people about criteria for adulthood Arnett (2003) found that,
Experiencing emerging adulthood in The Netherlands
whilst across all ethnic groups independence was viewed as important, African- Americans, Latinos and Asian-Americans, placed more emphasis on collectivistic values. This indicates that minorities develop a bicultural identity (Arnett 2011), embracing individualism whilst maintaining the collectivist values of their parents’ cultures. However, Reifman et al. (2007) found no differences between White and Latino Americans in their emerging adulthood experience. Differences in emerging adulthood between ethnic groups in Europe have yet to be examined in any detail (Syed and Mitchell, 2013).
In the Netherlands two significant minority ethnic groups are Moroccans and Dutch-Caribbean. There are cultural differences between these groups and the majority Dutch group which suggest they may experience emerging adulthood differently. Within the Muslim Moroccan culture, marriage is seen as an important step and one which parents and the community actively encourages (de Koning & Bartels, 2005). We might therefore expect Moroccan emerging adults to experience this period as less self-focused and more other-focused, as they feel family and community pressure to find a marriage partner. Furthermore, as Blokland, Grimbergen, Bernasco and Nieuwbeerta (2010) point out, experiencing discrimination as well as having a low SES, can create problems for young people during the early adult years. If fewer choices are available in terms of education and employment, due to either discrimination or lack of capital, the opportunity to explore or experiment with different life styles/pathways is likely to be restricted. Hence, we expect Moroccans and the Dutch-Caribbean to place less emphasis on experimentation and exploration during this time of life.
Given colonial history the Dutch-Caribbean are at a smaller cultural distance from ethnic Dutch than are Moroccans (Schalk-Soekar, van de Vijver, & Hoogsteder, 2004) and the Dutch generally consider immigrants from ex-colonies to be socially closer (Hagendoorn & Pepels, 2003). Nonetheless, in Dutch-Caribbean culture the transition to parenthood is more valued, with teenage pregnancies, unmarried cohabitation and extended households of female family members being common (Bos, 2008). In addition, possibly as a result of this, the Dutch-Caribbean are generally found to attach stronger values to family support and solidarity than do ethnic Dutch, who put stronger emphasis on the autonomy of the individual (de Valk, 2006). We might therefore expect the Dutch-Caribbean to be more other- focused than Dutch emerging adults.