Parental support for young adults in Europe

American interest: in the "boomerang" generation is paralleled by European concern with the transition of young people to adulthood. This paper focuses on parental support for young adults. Though family policies across Europe are diverse, there seems to be a general shift from state to parental support for young adults-despite limited knowledge of the capacity and willingness of parents to give it. This paper discusses changes in the experience and expectations of young people and their parents. It considers a research agenda to explore the kinds of support that parents give, their reasons for offering or refusing support, and the ways in which support is provided or negotiated. It emphasizes the multi-dimensional nature of both youth-adult transitions and parental support, the dilemmas parents may face in providing support, and variability in its extent and reliability-while noting the limitations of the "welfare" perspective which informs European concerns.