This article discusses why it has become considerably more difficult for the rising generations to enter the system of social and civic relations in today's Kazakh society. This situation is due to the transition from the Soviet model of socialization (which was unitary in terms of its normative character, with equal starting social opportunities and guarantees, a system that ensured the predictability of one's path in life) to the variable, stratified model that has come to be formed. What makes today's young people's entry into social and civic life different is that young people must "not only become adapted" to the reality as it exists but also fundamentally "change" that reality. Given these circumstances, the emergence of young people's subjecthood entails a large amount of risk, especially considering that this social and demographic group is most vulnerable to the whim of chance and may not have the work that they desire, an education, a family, the ability to cope with fierce competition, and so on. Young people's goals in life, the means by which they plan to achieve them, and their level of active civic involvement have become important factors of their socialization, indicators of fundamental changes in Kazakh society. Increasingly, young people's social development consists of their acquisition and enhancement of their own social status, the formation of their civic identity, their achievement of social maturity and social subjecthood. Whether due to the corruption of elite professional education or the failure to equip rural youth with skills and opportunities, the authors contend, Kazakhstan is undermining its capacity to modernize and sowing serious social problems. (Contains 1 table and 16 notes.)