193dissolved, leading to a massive wave of returnees from the former overseas
territories. Until this time, due to the absence of a modern welfare state
to support dependent individuals, family obligations were quite strong,
going beyond the nuclear family. Portugal entered the European Union
in 1986 and is characterized by an important migration flow towards
European countries from the late 1950s onwards. Thus, while the entry
into adulthood of individuals born between 1950 and 1955 was marked
by the return to democracy, the youth of individuals born between 1970
and 1975 was marked by the integration of Portugal in the European
Union, which brought considerable financial and social benefits.
Regarding work-family reconciliation, a dual-earner model thus pre-
vails in Portugal and Lithuania, while Switzerland is characterized by a
one-and-a-half-earner model in which most men work full-time and
most women part-time. It is noteworthy that compared to Lithuania and
Portugal, where active measures are taken with the aim of institutional-
izing support for work–family balance, in Switzerland less is invested in
family issues, despite the higher GDP of this country (Kanopienė 1999 ;
Stankūnienė and Maslauskaitė 2008 ; Valarino 2014 ; Wall and Escobedo
2009 ). The general increase of divorce is observable in the three countries
under study, as is largely the case in the rest of Europe. The highest rates
of divorce are observed in Lithuania, followed by Portugal and Switzerland.
Consequently, situations of lone parenthood are more frequent in the
two former countries, not only because of divorce but also due to migra-
tion (Delgado and Wall 2011 ).
Co-residence Trajectories in Adulthood
Modernity is associated with significant changes in the ways in which
adulthood is experienced. In the middle of the twentieth century, the
transition to economic and residential autonomy as well as marriage
occurred at about the same time (Galland 1991 , 2003 ). The progressive
lengthening of formal education associated with the increasing instability
of occupational careers contributed to delaying the transition to parent-
hood. In more recent times, the major transitions delineating adulthood
appear to be desynchronized and recurrent (Billari and Liefbroer 2010 ;
Modell et al. 1976 ). This makes room for situations in which individuals
Linking Family Trajectories and Personal Networks