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This article addresses the issue of young people's subjective conception of attainment of adulthood. Setting a process, as well as a multidimensional perspective, the analysis enables the study of both role transitions and issues of individual maturity in attainment of adulthood. Usually, after completing specific role transitions, young people are regarded as adult members of society. Due to social changes it is of interest to study whether young people themselves also put the same emphasis on these role transitions in attainment of adulthood. Drawing on data from the Swedish Board of Youth Affairs containing 3200 respondents aged 16-29, the results indicate that young people who have completed role transitions assign them less value for the importance of adult status. However, becoming a parent is a role transition that is given great importance and is also in relation to the issue of responsibility.

The questions addressed in this study are: first, what factors determine the economic situation among the young and, second, what factors in youth have a long-term impact on people's economic situations?

The empirical analysis utilizes a three wave panel that covers a period of 16 years. A growth curve model is used in order to estimate changes over time and the following main results are found:

Young people’s incomes do not say very much about their current standard of living or future earning ability. If anything, low income is a predictor of substantial future income growth. There are good reasons to be sceptical regarding the importance of analysing young people's income situation and the incidence of income poverty among the young.

Being economically deprived during youth is unrelated to the development of deprivation over time. Hence, the finding that young people in general face economic difficulties does not imply that we are observing a problem with lasting implications.

Labour market situation and household characteristics during youth are only modestly related to the development later on in life. However, long-term unemployment hampers young people's economy also in the long run.

Most importantly, the results of this analysis emphasize the importance of the reproduction of class and gender relations. It is these two fundamental aspects that more than anything else affect young people, on their way into adulthood and in their future life as adults.

Young people’s attitudes towards the Swedish welfare state’s expenditures are scrutinized in this study. Data from Statistic’s Sweden Survey of Living Conditions was used and a total of 5.732 respondents aged 19 to 65, out of which 1.106 were aged 19-30 years old, answered questions regarding what expenditures they considered should increase or decrease.

The results show that there is self-interest in attitudes to the distribution of expenditures and substantial age-differences. Young people were more positive concerning expenditures towards the support argued important for establishment. Actual monetary transfer was not distinguishing between ages, therefore the situation of real or potential risk-exposure characteristic for youth was argued what was explaining the age-difference in attitudes.

The results support the life-phase effect rather than the generation effect – individualization’s achievement orientation – in the distribution of attitudes towards the Swedish welfare state’s expenditures.