The Emergent Adult: Transition from School to Work

This article approaches the topic of the emerging adulthood with young people in Romania, as well as the beginning of the first work experience. The main aim is to identify the factors of a successful transition from school to independent life. The article examines the social status and the issues the young people in Romania face with regard to the transition from education to employment. The data type longitudinal panel study refers to the cohort of young people born in 1994-1995, the generation which graduated from the 12th or 13th class in 2012. We answer the question „Which are the factors that determine the first work experience for Romanian young people and what does this look like?” Half of the young people have work experience - 50.1%, with 25.2% working at the time they filled in the questionnaires, two years after graduation. Employment is explained to an extent of 1% by gender and area of residence, 4% by factors of social exclusion and 1% by factors related to negative life events. All these factors explain the variance of 6% in the employment of young people. Linear regression analysis (hierarchical) showed that social inclusion factors have the greatest effect on employment, with 4% of employment variance explained by social exclusion factors, while the influence of the demographic variables, factors of social exclusion and factors related to negative life events explain 6% of the youth employment variance.