As less young people meet major economic milestones such as moving out and getting married, the concept of adulthood is changing.

Fewer young adults are achieving economic and family milestones typically associated with adulthood, according to a recent working paper from the U.S. Census Bureau.

According to the working paper, “Changes in Milestones of Adulthood,” almost half of all young adults in 1975 had reached four milestones associated with adulthood: moving out of one’s parents’ home, getting a job, getting married and having a child.

Five decades on, that progression has changed dramatically. The share of young adults that have followed the traditional pathway to adulthood has dropped to less than a quarter, according to the paper.

  • tehn00bi@lemmy.world
    1·
    2 days ago

    That was the route I went.

    But I kind of see the issue the natalists are talking about. Modern economy and social safety nets are built on the idea that people will have more than 2 kids. Since that hasn’t been happening in most modernized economies for the last 30 years, we are seeing constrictions coming. No one knows how this will play out. Japan is probably the best example of how to manage population loss, but even that could doom them to irrelevance soon.

    Population decline is kind of a cascading event. I feel like the movie children of men helps visualize what the world in population decline can become.