MERGED --> You are all grown up at age 26 + You're Not A Grown Up Until You're 26!!

[HelloAngel]

You're Not A Grown Up Until You're 26!!

Are We Grown Up Yet? U.S. Study Says Not 'Till 26




CHICAGO (Reuters) - Most Americans believe someone isn't grown up until age 26, probably with a completed education, a full-time job, a family to support and financial independence, a survey said on Thursday.

But they also believe that becoming an official grown-up is a process that takes five years from about the age of 20, concluded the report from the University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center.

The findings were based on a representative sample of 1,398 people over age 18 surveyed in person in 2002. It had an error margin of plus or minus 3 percent.

The poll found the following ages at which people expect the transitions to grown-up status to be completed: Age 20.9 self-supporting; 21.1 no longer living with parents; 21.2 full-time job; 22.3 education complete; 24.5 being able to support a family financially; 25.7 married; and 26.2 having a child.

'There is a large degree of consensus across social groups on the relative importance of the seven transitions,' said Tom Smith, director of the survey. 'The only notable pattern of differences is on views about supporting a family, having a child and getting married.

'Older adults and the widowed and married rate these as more important than younger adults and the never-married do,' he added. 'This probably reflects in large part a shift in values across generations away from traditional family values.'

The most valued step toward reaching adulthood, the survey found, was completing an education, followed by full-time employment, supporting a family, financial independence, living independently of parents, marriage and parenthood.

 

[HelloAngel]

I find this so amusing, because, two months shy of turning 26:

-I own a house w/ my live-in boyfriend
-Am self-employed
-College Education
-Have no intention of getting married before I'm 30
-Have no intention of having children

-I look maybe 22 in person
-I act like a complete child
-All I really ever want to do is go to a concert or to the beach
-I still love nightclubbing


Am I a "grown-up?"

 

[MissVelvetDress_75]

i am 28 and most of the time i still feel like i am a kid.

 

[Bonochick]

I still watch cartoons, play with Barbies, and buy Happy Meals mainly for the toys.

I'll probably never grow up.

 

[IWasBored]

what about renting a car? can't you not do that until you're 25? when i was in 10th grade my frisbee coach wasn't 'technically' allowed to drive the rental van that we took to a game because he was 22...

 

[BAW]

I'm almost 37 and I still don't feel like a grown up.

 

[Chizip]

im 22 and im all grown up

 

[MissVelvetDress_75]

 

[diamond]

 

[theSoulfulMofo]

 

[HeartlandGirl]

I'm 26.

In this corner we have:
College education
Full-time job
Husband

In the opposing corner we have:
Apartment living
Christmas lights hanging up year round
Living room decorated with paraphenalia of a certain rock band
Obsession with Hello Kitty collectibles

Perhaps the key is balance...

 

[Salome]

well, 26 makes more sense than 21

 

[u2popmofo]

Good. I can still be a child for the next 6 months or so!!!!

Gotta love being a completely unresponsible 25 yr old!

 

[LarryMullen's POPAngel]

Cool. I have one year left to get my shit together.

 

[Elvis Presley]

Good. I can still be a child for the next 6 months or so!!!!

Gotta love being a completely unresponsible 25 yr old!

same here,, when the birthday capt cowbell?

 

[FizzingWhizzbees]

I'll never grow up.

 

[Giant Lemon]

Well I guess I now have about 5 more years until I have to grow up!

 

[zonelistener]

You are all grown up at age 26

Who's a grown-up? New survey says Americans put adulthood at age 26


The law may imply that you're a grown-up when you're old enough to vote, serve in the military or drink legally. But most Americans really believe adulthood begins at age 26, according to a new study from the University of Chicago.

The study said most people don't consider a person grown up until they finish school, get a full-time job and start raising a family.

Tom W. Smith, the study's author, said the results are a sign that society has accepted what researchers have long called an "extended adolescence."

"There's a much more gradual transition [to adulthood] than was traditionally there," said Smith, a polling expert at the University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center.

Take marriage, for example. In the 1950s, the most common age for brides was 18.

"In 2003, when you hear about an 18-year-old bride, the first thing you say is, 'Boy, that's unusual -- and boy, that person should've waited,' " Smith said.

According to those surveyed, the average age someone should marry was 25.7, and the age for having children was 26.2. Most respondents considered parenthood the final milestone needed to reach true adulthood.

Robert Billingham, an associate professor of human development and family studies at Indiana University, said the trend of delayed adulthood can be partly explained by society's emphasis on attending college. And, he said, as more people pursue postgraduate studies to find jobs, traditional adult activities are likely to be postponed even longer.

The new data is based on findings from the research center's 2002 General Social Survey, a continuing poll of American adults that began in 1972 and which Smith oversees. Nearly 1,400 of those surveyed last year were asked to answer the questions about adulthood.

They were asked to rate the importance of seven stages of transition into adulthood -- from attaining financial independence to getting married and having children. They also were asked to specify the ages at which those stages should be achieved.

For categories other than marriage and having children, the average ages were: financially independent, age 20.9; not living with parents, age 21.2; full-time employment, age 21.2; finishing school, age 22.3, and being able to support a family, age 24.5.

In terms of ranking the importance of each category, the report found that completing an education was most valued, with 73 percent of those surveyed calling it an "extremely important" step in achieving adulthood.

The remainder of the transitions followed: being employed full-time, 61 percent; supporting a family, 60 percent; being financially independent, 47 percent; living independently of parents, 29 percent; being married, 19 percent; and having a child, 16 percent. The percentages in the survey had a margin of error of three percentage points.

Those younger than 30 were the least likely to rank being married or having children as important criteria for being an adult.

Grant Lammersen, a 27-year-old San Franciscan, said it's true that his generation feels less pressure to get married and have kids -- perhaps, he said, because so many of their parents are divorced.

Martha Irvine, Associated Press - Published May 16, 2003 GROVAR

 

[theSoulfulMofo]

umm.. i think a similar thread's been posted a few weeks ago.

 

[u2popmofo]

umm.. i think a similar thread's been posted a few weeks ago.

You're right.

 

[zonelistener]

Didn't see it when it was posted before.

 

[vivaSA]

same here,, when the birthday capt cowbell?

I'm also 25 and supposed to turn 26 in December, it's cool not to be grown up for at least a few months more

 

[Elvis Presley]

Im all growns up now, although 26 dosent come until Nov. .....a wife and kids will speed along that process....

 

[hiphop]

So I am in between 21.2 and 22.3?

Good to know. Married. Having a child. Sure. Tsah.

 

[MissVelvetDress_75]

you know i am really enjoying my 20's right now. a nice weekend of being with friends has made me enjoy this life again.

 

[jkayet]

I'm also 25 and supposed to turn 26 in December, it's cool not to be grown up for at least a few months more

a few months? breathe...i have longer, yeah? sorry, i also turn 26 in dec and hadn't even thought about that yet...i'm still not used to the fact that i'm actually 25. just a minor panic attack there...ok.