Introduction

Abstract

This collaborative writing project, drawing on data from the Life Patterns longitudinal research program, provides new insights into the generations that have shaped a new adulthood. Following the lives of cohort 1 from 1991 and cohort 2 from 2005 to 2006 when they respectively left secondary school, the research spans a time of significant social, political and economic change on a global scale. This book explores in detail what this change looks like for young Australians, how they understand their situation and what the implications of their decisions are over time. Longitudinal research of this nature has a number of strengths, including being able to trace the impact of social change in..