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Is today’s generation stuck in a perpetual state of childhood?
At least that’s one way of looking at a new Pew Research Center study that shows young adults “are reaching key life milestones later than they did 40 years ago.” Specifically, adults who are 21 years old are less likely to have a full-time job, be financially independent, live on their own, get married and have a child — what Pew calls five frequently cited markers of adulthood.
Pew said its study was based on an analysis of Census Bureau data.
Depending on the milestone, the gap between 21-year-olds in 2021 (the most recent year with available data, according to Pew) versus those four decades ago could be fairly significant. For example, in 2021, 39% of 21-year-olds were working full-time; by contrast, in 1980, 64% were.
Similarly, in 2021, 25% of 21-year-olds didn’t have to rely on their parents for financial support, but in 1980, 42% were financially independent.
Lots of factors are weighing into this shift. Pew points to a big one: More young people are enrolled in college today — meaning they are in a different place in life at age 21. Pew notes that 48% of 21-year-olds are enrolled in college today versus 31% in 1980.
But others who have studied the issue point to different factors. Perhaps key among them is the tough economic situation that young adults, let alone adults in general, are facing today. A 2022 Bankrate poll found that 53% of adults “have delayed a major milestone due to the state of the economy” — pointing to such events as buying a home, getting married, having children or even buying/leasing a car.
Plus, there’s simply the fact that different generations have different expectations of how their life will progress. In a 2021 BBC story, Sara Harrison argued that the priorities Western societies place on reaching certain milestones by a certain age don’t account for changing dynamics.
These “all-important deadlines are often arbitrary, and the pressure to achieve them sometimes comes from amorphous, unidentifiable places. They also aren’t as set in stone as they may seem,” Harrison wrote. “From generation to generation, changes in technology and the economy, advances in science and even the political climate can turn what once seemed like a social necessity into an antiquated expectation.”
The Pew study did note, however, that by the time today’s young adults reach 25, they are somewhat closer in reaching the key milestones compared with 25-year-olds in 1980. For example, 66% of 25-year-olds had a full-time job in 2021 versus 73% in 1980.
