Building on interviews with 319 adults, examines cultural age "deadlines" for a series of general transitions related to education and work. Respondents indicated a rough, "normal biography" of general transitions which had flexible guidelines for how those trajectories might unfold. Relates these findings to complementary…

Some family transitions have been reshaped by demographic changes in recent years. Changes in mortality patterns have expanded the duration of individual lives and family relationships. The death of a child, once an expectable part of life, is now so rare that it constitutes a major life crisis. Facing the death of one's parents, still a normal…

Surveyed randomly selected adults (n=319) in the Chicago metropolitan area and questioned them on whether cultural schedules exist for the timing of life transitions. Respondents perceived deadlines for most of the family transitions discussed. (SNR)