Fewer young adults are achieving economic and family milestones typically associated with adulthood, according to a recent working paper from the U.S. Census Bureau.
According to the working paper, “Changes in Milestones of Adulthood,” almost half of all young adults in 1975 had reached four milestones associated with adulthood: moving out of one’s parents’ home, getting a job, getting married and having a child.
Five decades on, that progression has changed dramatically. The share of young adults that have followed the traditional pathway to adulthood has dropped to less than a quarter, according to the paper.
To help pay for your retirement.
I know that was a rhetorical question, but regardless, here’s the answer. Eventually people get old, and it’s generally good if there are enough younger folks to pick up the slack when older folks really can’t anymore.
Our society is essentially a house of cards. If there suddenly aren’t enough supports remaining at the base, those higher levels might start to collapse, and that tends to take the rest of the structure down too.