Young people who are becoming adult in the 2000s are shaping new life patterns as they engage with contemporary social and economic conditions. Yet many of the frameworks that inform current thinking about the process of growing up derive from an era in which different conditions and options prevailed. The transition processes for the majority of young people born after 1970 are different from those of the majority of their parents' generation. This article focuses on contemporary patterns of transition and reflects on how we understand these patterns. It suggests that it is time for a new approach to understanding the process of becoming adult. The article draws on the Life-Patterns Research Project, a longitudinal panel study conducted by the Australian Youth Centre at the University of Melbourne.