Transitions and trajectories to adulthood among young men in Mexico

Gabriela Mejia Pailles, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

The topic of the transitions to adulthood (leaving education, labour force entrance, sexual initiation, parental home leaving, first marriage and first childbearing) among young men in Mexico takes special relevance due to the fact that men play a key role in the society - strongly characterized by traditional gender roles, where men's decisions are of paramount importance within the family and the public spheres - and in the era of AIDS - where the disease constitutes the 4th most important cause of death among men between 25 and 34 years of age. Using the life course perspective as the main framework for analysis, this paper focuses on the passageway into adulthood among young men in Mexico and the different trajectories obtain from the various transitions to adulthood in the groups of age 15-19, 20-24 and 25-29, taking into consideration demographic, social and economic factors, individual development and environmental surroundings.