Increasingly Demanding, Risky, and De-Standardised – Young People in Western Countries Coping with Life Course Transitions in The Midst of Societal Changes. RYOT Working paper on the Life Course

RYOT Working paper on the Life Course. This working paper belongs to the RYOT working group Structure, Agency, and the Life Course. The aim of this working paper is to share ideas and sharpen our understanding on the configurations and developments of the life course and youth transitions as well as to pinpoint some of the questions that are of interest to the RYOT network more broadly. After a short introduction of the goals and objectives of this working paper, we discuss some definitions of the concept of life course and the main tenets of life course research. The working paper examines also topics such as life course institutionalisation and destandardisation, understandings and experiences of time in life course, and constructing life courses in today’s late modern societies. A particular emphasis is placed on youth as a life phase as well as to the life course transition from youth to adulthood. RYOT network: Research on Youth’s Opportunities and Transitions.