Transition to adulthood, the postponement of childbearing and ethnicity in the west part of Romania

Valér Veres, Babes-Bolyai University Cluj

The purpose of the paper – in ethnic context– is to see how in West-Romania, (Transylvania), the economic and demographic transformations how are reflected in young generation’s life strategies, prolonged youth lifecycle, grounding a family, shifting the age of childbearing. The empirical sources are 2 surveys realized in 2006-2007 and in 2001-2002. The frame of interpretation is the population-based approach (Van de Kaa, George K. Linda, Hogan –Astone, Zinnecker, Chisholm). According to our findings, in Romania, the average age of transition to adulthood of young generation is affected partly by the region, the country’s general social-economical situation, its social common feeling/sense, on the other hand the social strata situation within the region. The ethnic minority belonging is a factor which is functioning trough micro-regional belonging from Transylvania: the region is more important than the ethnicity in explaining differences in transition to adulthood and in timeing to have a child.