Growing up delayed for some
By: Justin Kissell
Staff Reporter
Issue date: 11/28/06 Section: The Game of Life
David Plunk, a 22-year-old spring 2006 graduate of the University of Tennessee, lives at home with his mom and sees no reason to rush out the door to quickly settle down with a career, wife and family.
Plunk is part of a growing trend of millions to marry later in life, go to school longer and generally take longer to "find themselves" in life.
This "adultescence" maturation stage has been developing for over 30 years to the point where the parents of today's 20 Somethings were at the opposite end of the spectrum in their adolescence. Some believe this makes a young adult appear more polished heading into the real world, while there are also dangerous risks facing those who do not actively seek full-time employment after graduation or in their early 20s.
Plunk graduated in four years and is considering a future in the law profession. These days, he's more concerned with furthering his education than a life of bills and 9 to 5 jobs.
"I am pretty content on continuing my education so that I can get a better job," he said. "The real world to me is a place where a non-rich kid like me will be fighting an uphill battle to get settled down. I feel like with more education, I would be better prepared to get a job that provides me with enough financial security to be comfortable."
According to United States Census information from 2005, almost 18 million young adults between the ages of 18 and 34 lived at home with their parents. The same statistic from 1970 reveals that just over 11 million young adults were in the same situation.
"There are just so many young people working to aid their educations (in America), since there are so many part-time college students," said Madalla Alibeli, a sociology professor at The University of Memphis. "In Eastern countries, students do not take out the types of loans students here do. This focus on education postpones many important decisions, like delaying marriage."
Marriage is indeed delayed for people today. According to census information, 51 percent of males under the age of 30 were never married by the year 2000. In 1970, that statistic was just 10.5 percent. For females, the number doubled during that same 30-year period, from 19 percent to 38 percent.
Plunk is part of a growing trend of millions to marry later in life, go to school longer and generally take longer to "find themselves" in life.
This "adultescence" maturation stage has been developing for over 30 years to the point where the parents of today's 20 Somethings were at the opposite end of the spectrum in their adolescence. Some believe this makes a young adult appear more polished heading into the real world, while there are also dangerous risks facing those who do not actively seek full-time employment after graduation or in their early 20s.
Plunk graduated in four years and is considering a future in the law profession. These days, he's more concerned with furthering his education than a life of bills and 9 to 5 jobs.
"I am pretty content on continuing my education so that I can get a better job," he said. "The real world to me is a place where a non-rich kid like me will be fighting an uphill battle to get settled down. I feel like with more education, I would be better prepared to get a job that provides me with enough financial security to be comfortable."
According to United States Census information from 2005, almost 18 million young adults between the ages of 18 and 34 lived at home with their parents. The same statistic from 1970 reveals that just over 11 million young adults were in the same situation.
"There are just so many young people working to aid their educations (in America), since there are so many part-time college students," said Madalla Alibeli, a sociology professor at The University of Memphis. "In Eastern countries, students do not take out the types of loans students here do. This focus on education postpones many important decisions, like delaying marriage."
Marriage is indeed delayed for people today. According to census information, 51 percent of males under the age of 30 were never married by the year 2000. In 1970, that statistic was just 10.5 percent. For females, the number doubled during that same 30-year period, from 19 percent to 38 percent.