The article illustrates the existence of various social constructions of youth and analyses their main political, economic and cultural foundations by a statistical and qualitative comparison of the family and professional paths of young adults in Denmark, the Uk, France and Spain. The analysis brings out the influence of society on this period of life, differentiating the trajectories and experiences associated with entering adult life: depending on how the state, educational systems and family rules that characterize them intervene, these societies tend to institutionalize various forms of transition to adult age and to generate specific ways of experiencing it.only subscribers can see the full article