Finishing school, undertaking further education, finding paid employment, moving out of the family
home, forming relationships and starting a family are just some of the milestones that young people
commonly experience as they transition to adulthood and independence.
This article examines what is known about the key milestones involved in a young person’s
transition to independence, with a focus on how this has changed over time. An overview of what
we know about this transition is presented first, before exploring the data on living arrangements,
relationships, family formation and young parenthood, education, employment and income. Young
people are defined here as aged 15–24. Relevant data are disaggregated for the age groups 15–19
and 20–24 where possible; in some cases, however, different age ranges are used depending on
availability in various data sets.