Ideations and Intentions in the Transition to Adulthood: A Cross-European Comparison

Ideations and intentions are important precursors of actual behaviour but are still understudied in the literature on the transition to adulthood. Our article provides a descriptive overview of ideations and intentions about the timing of four key events in the transition to adulthood (exit from the parental home, cohabitation, marriage, and parenthood) using cross-nationally representative data for 33 Eu-ropean countries from the Generations and Gender Survey and European Social Survey. Results show that ideations and intentions about the transition to adulthood –just like actual behaviours– are gendered and display remarkable country differences. The heterogeneity in the timing of intentions hints that key events, such as cohabitation, are not uniformly pervasive in young adults' lives. Also, a gap exists between ideal and actual ages at which events are experienced, particularly among men who are less likely to experience events at their “ideal” time compared to women. The extent to which intentions and ideations regarding the transition to adulthood translate into actual behaviours varies across countries and gender.