A recent New York Times article (Long Road to Adulthood is Growing Even Longer) raises the issue that our definition of "adult" is growing archaic. Though we used to mark adulthood with the traditional milestones of financial independence, marriage and having children, more "adults" are taking longer to reach financial independence and see raising a family as a "lifestyle choice." I find this interesting in light of my conversation with a friend about maturity. I was starting to see maturity as the ability to take care of other people, and adulthood as the ability to make a commitment to take care of other people.
All adulthood really is is the stage in life where you're most accountable to other people. I'm sure a few of these beta adults have adjusted their definitions--maybe they have parents they need to take care of, or have jobs with a high level of responsibility. But I think we might have a generation of people who are increasingly only accountable to themselves. If we're deferring accountability and responsibility, why must we have better institutions to help us get by as the article suggests?
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