Growing up - just not now

Extended adolescence. Seriously, it has a name. Kids today stay kids for longer. They jump from job to job, go on long, exotic vacations, live at home after college. This is the new norm for twenty-somethings.

According to a USA Today article, "Recent findings published by the American Sociological Association and based on U.S. Census data show a sharp decline in the percentage of young adults who have finished school, left home, gotten married, had a child and reached financial independence, considered typical standards of adulthood. In 2000, 46% of women and 31% of men had reached those markers by age 30, vs. 77% of women and 65% of men at the same age in 1960."

The big question I want answered is whether this is healthy. The jury is still out. But with life expectancy of 100 for a child born in the year 2000, I'm not sure delaying your responsible years is all bad. After all, experiences - of all sorts - do shape a person...as long at he or she does grow up. Eventually.