“National surveys reveal that an overwhelming majority of Americans, including younger adults, agree that between 20 and 22, people should be finished with school, working and living on their own. But in practice many people in their 20s and early 30s have not yet reached these traditional milestones” (Cohen, 2010)

The findings in Cohen’s article were quite interesting, but I felt that the tone in which the article was written was extremely discouraging. In addition, I felt that Cohen neglected to take into account other highly influential variables – the most prominent one being the current job market, as many of my fellow classmates have touched upon.

The job market just isn’t the same as it was decades ago; its now highly competitive and you can’t just get by with a high school diploma, let alone a college diploma. This increasing demand for higher education would be great in an ideal world, but then you have college tuition rising exponentially every few years, forcing students to go further into debt. With this in mind, it’s no surprise that young Americans aren’t “achieving traditional milestones” as quickly as previous generations. All of the milestones listed in the article are extremely expensive and involve intense amount of upkeep – it’s hard to invest in your future when you lack the financial security to. And so, it’s not that young American adults don’t want to achieve these milestones; it’s because they’re financial unable to.

It’s also important that we breakdown this stereotype that living with your parents when you’re older makes you less independent – the two aren’t mutually exclusive. If it’s fiscally smarter to live with your parents, then there shouldn’t be a pressure to move out simply because it’s customary. As a nation we have to accept the fact that the world is changing, and that the current generation of Americans have much different priorities and obstacles then generations prior.