I don't want to grow up!!

In August of this year, the New York Times wrote an article discussing an apparent new social phenomenon where young people in their 20s are ever increasingly delaying those benchmarks that traditionally have constituted entrance into adulthood.  More than ever, young "adults" coming out of post-secondary education remain at home, flip-flop from one job to another without any real career goals or long-term direction, delay the on-set of marriage / "settling down", push-back the start dates of child bearing, or decide to travel the world in order to culturally enrich themselves.  Baby Boomers have taken note and have begun calling us lazy (though one might argue that they laid the seeds for the whole phenomenon to occur in the first place).

It is something I have definitely noted within my own circle of friends who are conscious of what they see developing around them.  Many remark that even though they are in their mid to late twenties (and some in their early thirties), they don't really feel as if they are adults or are bearing any of the traditional responsibilities of adulthood.  At 29, I myself sometimes feel as if I'm still a kid (the shock of people calling me "Sir" is rather jolting) or that I don't really take matters in life as seriously as an adult should.  More often than not, the twenties now seem to be a time to "discover yourself", an almost strange extension of adolescence where, being free of legal constraints, one decides to test the water by swimming in every lake - this holds for relationships, jobs, and education.  For the first time in history (as far as I know) the term quarter-life crisis has been coined where after completing school and entering the workforce, young adults stutter at the starting blocks asking themselves "uh....now what?...is this really what I want?...what's the purpose of what I'm doing and am I really going to be contributing anything to society or will I simply be a meaningless cog in the wheel of capitalism?"

Jeffrey Jensen Arnott, a psychology professor at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, is even going as far as proposing that this phenomenon represents a new stage in life which he has coined as "Emerging Adulthood" -  the next stage in human development after adolescence.  Despite Arnott's argument, there is no real biological / physiological basis for Emerging Adulthood (even though they have discovered that, structurally, the brain continues to change into one's late twenties and early thirties, there is no major upheaval of brain circuitry that is noted during early childhood and puberty).  Rather, the causes of Emerging Adulthood point to economic and social factors that are mainly endemic to western developed countries, and not the entire global generation of twenty somethings.

Economists and sociologists argue that over the past 30 years the affluent, developed western countries, have laid the foundation  for Emerging Adulthood.  These days, in order to get a well paying job, apart from acquiring one by sheer luck or charisma, a post-secondary or professional degree is a must, forcing people to stay in school until at least their mid-twenties.  Once they leave school, many carry the large burden of tuition debt on their shoulders that seriously dissuades one from buying homes and starting a family.  Couple this with the current economic downturn, and it is no wonder young adults are jumping from job to job, staying in school to get a Masters or Ph.D, and clinging to the relative financial security of living with the parentals.  To somewhat counter-act the insurmountable debt argument, our generation is also the first in western society to have a significant amount of disposable middle class income (whether inherited or earned) that allows us the time and freedom to do "whatever the hell we want"  without having to succumb into the cookie cutter mold of the "path of life".

There was also a major shift in education in the late 70's and early 80's where emphasis was placed on making sure every child was told they were special and unique, having the potential to accomplish whatever they desired later on in life.  Some argue that this created an over inflated sense of self esteem that has resulted in a false sense of entitlement where we feel that we don't have to pay our dues in order to climb the ladder of success.  Corporate business models label our kind as young, enthusiastic, quick to adapt, yet requiring constant / instant reward and gratification in order to feel we are providing a meaningful contribution, with a greater emphasis on flex time and work-life balance.  To older people, this constitutes a certain laziness or unwillingness to buckle down and exude those blood, sweat and tears that they had to go through.  They fear that we're not contributing to the economic machine that is supposed to pay for and support their pensions when they retire.  I find this notion laughable.  It is the older generation that set up the wobbly pillars that have lead to the most recent financial collapse. It is they who, possibly being disillusioned at their failed utopian hippie movement, championed education reform in the hopes of creating better minds for the future.  Guess what?  It worked.  The information revolution has lead to the first generation of digital children who are phenomenal at dealing with multiple inputs / multi-tasking, incredibly adaptable to new situations, innovative, and yes...are quick to realize that the old societal constructs of the industrial revolution are less relevant or in some cases no longer apply.  For this reason I'm quite optimistic that, though different, our generation will turn out just fine (and will no doubt in 30 or 40 years time complain that the younger generation are lazy and obtuse).

The lasting point is that Emerging Adulthood is simply a socio-economic trend and not a new stage in life (unless we really all begin living to 120).  Under-developed and even developing countries like India and China (representing a third of the world's population) do not show a high prevalence of this trend.  In most cases, the traditional pattern of going to school, getting married, finding a job and having kids is the norm rather than the exception (at least until Starbucks brings the coffee shop culture to the entire planet).