Creating “Nomos": Transition Strategies to Adulthood in the Post-Socialist Hungary

Tamas Domokos, Echo Survey Institute

According to Keniston’s concept of post-adolescence, during the transition to adulthood various traditional steps (finishing studies, first job, separating from the parental household, marriage, childbearing) are realized to become an adult member in the society. The post-socialist transformation significantly modified the conventional way of starting adulthood. Their behavior reflects different strategies that are more complex than just a simple delay in family formation. In our study based on national surveys we differentiated three transition strategies: family-guided, autonomy-guided and society-guided strategies about starting adulthood. We identified the intended childlessness and remaining single in the post-socialist context. These two new patterns transform the concept of post-adolescence and might lead to radical changes in adult demographic behavior. Using data from the Echo and HSDP Surveys from 2001-2006 we built a multivariate explanatory model, exploring the interdependence of different socio-economic and personal value system indicators, accounting for three major schools of explanation.