It’s a conversation I have with the vast majority of my clients: young adults are delaying the traditional life-milestones of getting a job, marrying and having kids at a much later age than previous generations.
I hear similar stories that you probably hear: my 32 year-old son lives in our basement; my 29 year-old daughter isn’t married yet; when am I going to have grand-kids, etc.
So I decided to do some research and see if I could find real data to support this theory. Turns out, the US Census Bureau just released a Report called: The Changing Economics and Demographics of Young Adulthood; 1975-2016.1
The Census Report “focuses on the education, economic situation and living arrangements of today's young adults and how their experiences differ in timing and degree from what young adults experienced in the 1970s.”
Here is the most striking data point to me:
Further, the Census found:
In fact, because the trends are so startling, there is a new name to describe that stage between childhood and adulthood – it’s called “emerging adulthood.”
Here is what the Census Bureau also discovered about these “emerging adults:”
The reality is that these trends will most certainly impact every generation in ways we can’t anticipate. From taxing our health care system, to replacing (or not) retiring workers, to straining the retirement resources and plans of their parents.
Next time you and I meet, let’s make a point of analyzing where you are so that you’re fully prepared to withstand these trends.
1You can read the entire Report here: https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2017/08/young-adults.html , but I have copied the salient points and the chart for your convenience.