Following a description of the rapid transformation of the Finnish society from an agricultural to a post-industrial one, this study reports results from a secondary analysis of a representative survey collected in 1981 by the Central Statistical Office of Finland. Using a sample of 744 urban residents, the 'working age' period of 25-66 years was divided into five successive age groups, birth cohorts who have experienced the same historical changes at different ages. These five cohorts (postwar recovery, postwar baby boom, wartime recovery, wartime childhood, and wartime youth) were compared on the basis of life course experiences and current intergenerational contacts. Findings show that despite many supposedly interfering factors and despite infrequent intergenerational sharing of a household, regular meetings with parents, grandparents, and adult children continued to form an essential part of the social network for a large majority of all groups and in both gender groups of adults. Certain differences according to stage of family life, gender, and age were noted but differences were usually not significant. The study concludes that more qualitative methods are needed to study content, meaning, and function as instruments of mutual socialization as well as the emotional climate of the intergenerational contacts of adults. (LH)