In his book The Prime of Life, Steven Mintz (2015) argues “adulthood today lacks a well-defined roadmap” (pg. 1). Steve Mintz (2015) states that “individuals must define or negotiate their roles and relationships without any clear rules or precedents to follow” (pg. 15). I agree with Steve and I feel that my generation has a harder time transitioning into adulthood than the generations that came before us. The recession of 2007 left millennials no choice but to remain reliant on parents, other support systems or stay in school to remain afloat (Stafford, 2015). Things that traditionally we are expected to accomplished by twenty five are now pushed back to our early thirty’s thus causing an extended adolescence (Stafford, 2015). This extra time …show more content…
In today’s times cultural and economic forces are causing emerging adults to march towards adulthood at an individualized pace. Some emerging adults never reach the pillars or reach them completely out of order. Some are childless or single by choice, advance professionally before committing to a monogamous relationship, cannot marry because they are gay, start working after high school and then go to college after becoming financially secure or having children young and marrying later. This time period of change described by Arnett (2006) is called the age of identity exploration. This can be described as a time period when young adults are trying out new and different options in their life. They are trying to find out who they are and who they’d want to be. This primarily takes place in romantic relationships and careers, where they are focused on finding a person that would make a good partner and finding a career that would give them a sense of …show more content…
Most don’t rush into adult responsibilities like marriage and parenthood and tend to focus on their own personal needs. They form their goals in their minds and strut off to achieve them. Most feel a sense of possibilities and have idealistic pictures of their futures. Some find complications in their life and are forced to revise rinse and repeat. No one foresees dead-end jobs, divorce, or difficulties raising children. This often leads to changing majors, jobs, partners and residences. The sense of feeling in-between comes if they are not fully self- sufficient. Arnett (2006) wrote ask if they agree with the statement, “I am very sure that someday I will get to where I want to be in life,” and 96 percent of them will say yes. However some face disappointment, uncertainty, and a sense of not really understanding how the world works. The freedom of being an adult without the ability support themselves leaves emerging adults in a sort of limbo of feeling in-between an adolescent and