Why ‘Adulthood’ Is Impossible to Define
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What does it really mean to “grow up”? As my colleague Julie Beck noted in 2016, markers of adulthood are always evolving, and a set definition is impossible to come by. (When I was a young child, I was convinced that turning 11 would signal adulthood in a significant way—something about the double one felt impossibly mature—but that didn’t really prove to be a helpful framework.)
Each possible meaning of “adulthood”—financial independence, living alone, having kids—brings with it an assumption about what should matter, both to an individual and to society. Today’s newsletter explores some of these assumptions, and how the concept of “growing up” has changed.
Americans Can’t Decide What It Means to Grow Up
By Faith Hill
Living alone tends to be idolized as a sign of maturity. But maybe that’s misguided.
The Real Reason Young Adults Seem Slow to ‘Grow Up’
By Nancy E. Hill and Alexis Redding
It’s not a new developmental stage; it’s the economy.
By Julie Beck
In an age when the line between childhood and adulthood is blurrier than ever, what is it that makes people grown up?
Still Curious?
- “I’m the driver now”: “Learning to drive as an adult was the hardest, best thing I’ve done,” Helen Lewis wrote in 2022.
- “I’m 53 years old. I’m 36 in my head.” Last year, Jennifer Senior reported on the puzzling gap between how old you are and how old you think you are.
Other Diversions
- Long live the Chicago Rat Hole.
- You may be surprised by what scares you.
- Caffeine’s dirty little secret
P.S.
As an adult nondriver myself, I’m finding inspiration in Helen’s driving quest. “The joy and sadness of learning is that what was once terrifying becomes boring,” she writes.
— Isabel