Coming Up Short

Coming Up Short illuminates the transition to adulthood for young working-class men and women. Moving away from easy labels such as the "Peter Pan generation," Jennifer Silva reveals the far bleaker picture of how the erosion of traditional markers of adulthood has changed what it means to grow up as part of the post-industrial working class. Based on one hundred interviews Silva sheds light on their experience of heightened economic insecurity, deepening inequality, and uncertainty about marriage and family.