This paper explores the key experiences that Uruguayans consider relevant for becoming an adult in Uruguay. In particular, we assess the linkages between adulthood and income; labor market participation and marital status, among other transitions that have been found to be associated with the attainment of adulthood. With the aim of identifying attitudinal patterns, we use the 2008 International Social Survey Program in Uruguay and estimate ordered probit models to examine the importance individuals assign to a series of hypothetical transitions. We discover that gender, age, and educational level are viewed as critical determinants in the passage to adulthood. Moreover, we find that Uruguay may have a different constellation of beliefs pertaining to adult transitions than has been found in similar studies conducted in the United States. 1. Introduction Adulthood is a multidimensional construct involving a series of demographic transitions such as completion of education, labor market participation, home leaving, marriage, and parenthood [1]. Clearly, these dimensions are deeply intertwined but at the same time, they involve discrete transitions that may be staged over a period of a decade or more. While some people may feel completely adult others may not, even in their 30s because in some spheres they do and in some spheres they do not. Moreover, as Berlin et al. [2] argue, the age of 18 or 21 has become insignificant as a signal of adult status. Shanahan et al. [3] and Reitzle [4] show that this is particularly true in the case of young people who tend to indicate feeling like adults when they are at work, with romantic partners or spouses, or with children, but are less likely to feel like adults when they are with their parents or friends. Hence, our research is not based on a direct question such as “are you an adult?” or “do you think that you are an adult?” Instead, we pose a set of questions about the occurrence of a series of demographic events constituting common transitions associated with becoming an adult. Following previous demographic research on the transition to adulthood, we concentrate on six life experiences: being economically independent, leaving home, completing formal education, working full time, getting married, and having a child. The 2008 International Social Survey Program in Uruguay (ISSP) includes the set of questions that allow us to do this study. This paper explores the life experiences that Uruguayans consider to be key factors to becoming an adult in contemporary society. In order to identify the effects of personal
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