Are People Taking Longer to Grow Up or is the Modern World Making Adulthood Impossible?

Job scarcity and outrageous costs for necessities like housing have muddied the definition of independence, bringing awareness to the fact all forms of life are valid. 

While every 18-year-old used to be expected to move out of their childhood home, now it’s increasingly common for young adults to stay at home into their late twenties, according to CBS News. 

This could be due to the increasing possibility of securing a real-world, well-paying job. 

Many people entering the corporate world have found it boarded up, unable to find a position even after completing years of higher education.  

On average there’s one job opening for every two applicants on LinkedIn, a drastic change from the even ratio in 2022, according to Time magazine. With jobs out of reach, many of those exiting college are forced to either live paycheck to paycheck with a minimum wage job, or with financial support from parents. 

The hardships of securing a job may be contributing to a changed culture where some have no interest in obtaining a degree and a highly-coveted job. 

About 2 million Americans, 20% of those aged 25-54 aren’t working. Roughly 21 million of those aren’t even looking for work, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center. 

People at a seemingly perfect age to start their careers simply don’t. They don’t feel the pressure which may have been placed on earlier generations. They don’t feel the need to advance their careers beyond entry-level positions, as they know it’s simply not as easy as it used to be. 

Overall, new generations seem to believe obtaining a job requiring a college degree isn’t necessary to lead a fulfilled life. 

Accordingly, the notion of what qualifies as an “adult job” should be altered. The only requirements in garnering the public’s respect should be someone enjoying what they do, and being able to provide for themselves. 

As the conceptualization of what an appropriate job looks like changes, so should our perceptions of what makes someone independent. Recent generations seem to be making it acceptable to live at home for much longer than usual. The number of people living with their parents is the highest it’s been since the Great Depression, according to the Pew Research Center. 

This new path is a result of the increased hardships of today’s world, rather than any perceived laziness of young adults. Simply surviving today takes an outrageous amount of money. Inflation and an unbalanced scale between income and expenses, have made it nearly impossible to earn a living.

This idea doesn’t make sense to the parents who were able to move out by 20 and pay off their college tuition by working in the summer, but that’s just not the reality anymore, according to CBS News. 

It’s often assumed living at home means being entirely reliant on parents. But with job scarcity contributing to ever-changing philosophies on life, the stigma surrounding living at home is outdated. 

Independence is not clear-cut. Someone can live at home and still be independent. In fact, living at home may offer more freedom and fulfillment than navigating the job market on a day-to-day wage ever could.