Frank Furstenberg examines how the newly extended timetable for entering adulthood is
affecting, and being affected by, the institution of the Western, particularly the American,
family. He reviews a growing body of research on the family life of young adults and their
parents and draws out important policy implications of the new schedule for the passage to
adulthood. Today, says Furstenberg, home-leaving, marriage, and the onset of childbearing
take place much later in the life span than they did during the period after World War II. After …