“People between 20 and 34 are taking longer to finish their educations, establish themselves in careers, marry, have children and become financially independent, said Frank F. Furstenberg, who leads the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Transitions to Adulthood, a team of scholars who have been studying this transformation. ‘A new period of life is emerging in which young people are no longer adolescents but not yet adults,’ Mr. Furstenberg said.”

“Long Road to Adulthood is Growing Even Longer” – Patricia Cohen, The New York Times

I strongly agree with Furstenberg’s statement about this growing trend in society, as I believe that many young people are viewing education to be more and more important in impacting their lives and careers. Because of this, many students are prolonging their education and receiving more prestigious degrees, oftentimes late into their 20s and 30s. However, I personally don’t agree with the fact that this does not constitute them as adults. I believe that Cohen sums this up accurately with the statement that “marriage has disappeared as a definition of traditional adulthood, as more and more younger people live together.” What does this mean for the study of adolescents today? Does there even exist a standard age for which we can assign adulthood in today’s society?

For example, my twenty-eight year old cousin is unmarried, but she has a stable job and purchased her own house a little over a year ago (with no financial help from her parents). In my opinion, she entered adulthood after she graduated with a Master’s degree a couple years ago, and her financial independence does not necessarily correlate with her relationship status or family life. Similarly, my brother got married at twenty-three, but him and his wife have now been married for five years and have not decided to have children yet. Personally, like Cohen, I think there are many other factors that influence adulthood rather than marriage and children, and they are continually evolving and reforming in today’s society.