The study of labour market transitions is an important aspect not only for researchers but also for policy makers. Such transitions, including retirement, extended working life, unemployment or school-to-work transitions etc., can be challenging and are often identified as turning points in the (re)production and accumulation of social inequalities. Therefore, they are also receiving an increasing attention for the design of new social policies.

However, to improve our understanding of how social inequalities evolve over the life course, labour transitions cannot be completely understood by only focusing on one particular point in time. This requires a more holistic approach through the implementation of a 'life course perspective'. For this however, it is essential that those transitions are situated in their wider trajectories, i.e. linked with previous and future situations, in order to understand their medium and long-term consequences. Focusing on a particular direct transition might be misleading. However, such a more holistic approach requires specific methods and data.

Against this background, this report aims to provide interested researchers and relevant stakeholders with an overview of available methods and data sets to analyse these labour market transitions in a life course perspective. More concretely, it provides an overview and evaluation (discussion of the strengths and weaknesses) of the methodological approaches to perform basic as well as advanced life-course analysis for two core phases of working lives: a) school-to-work and b) work-to-retirement transitions. Based on the description and evaluation of 32 datasets from 14 high-, middle- and low-income countries (Bolivia, Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Peru, South Africa, South Korea, United States and Vietnam) it provides an overview of selected data sets as well as an evaluation of their suitability to study those selected transitions in a life course perspective with the discussed methodological approaches.