Twenty Something's - Defining an age group ... is it just an excuse?

The New York Times recently posted this thought provoking article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/22/magazine/22Adulthood-t.html

It's a thought piece on the whole laze' fair attitude that runs rampant amongst the 18-25 year olds of our country.

I for one, am on the later side of 20 and I can fully relate to the idea of a period in life where I felt lost, where I was introspective and self-centered - it was Tuesday and I was trying to figure out how to maneuver my new train ride to work and it made me cranky and sad.

That said, I think there's a lot of interesting points in this article.  It notes that in 1970 there were 5 main milestones for a person to pass through to be an "adult" - things like not living at home with the parents, having a full-time job, being married, etc.  The article notes that nowadays you see the average 25 year old as having past maybe 3 of these milestones rather than the whole shebang as was the norm in the 1970's.

The researchers behind this idea of "Emerging Adulthood" liken the idea of the slow development into "real life" of today's 20-something to that of the discovery of Adolescence way back when.  Society had to adapt to that real and true developmental stage with middle schools and other civic responses to a real, honest time in ones life that is different from childhood, but not quite adult.  So, what would the adaptations be if "Emerging Adulthood" became recognized?

I can't say that there wasn't a time in my life where I needed time for self-discovery and variety...I mean as I read this article I readily said, yes to most of the things that they mention as being markers of "Emerging Adulthood" -- however I'm not sure what assistance anyone calling that time in my life by name might have provided.  Nor can I suggest ways society might better supported my general "What the heck am I doing with my life phase" (like I said I'm much closer to 30 than 20 and I'm still questioning that daily).

With all that in mind, a collegue of mine mentioned her brother-in-law having trouble connecting with his early 20-something daughter.  At which point I brought up this article and provided it to her...which caused her to be delighted.  The reason?  Because now her brother-in-law had a jumping off point on how to connect with his daughter and perhaps if nothing else, offer some symphathy rather than assuming it was just her that couldn't seem to make the tires hit the pavement of life.  So, maybe giving something a name can help...if only in our perception.