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To: Tax-chick
And does anyone other than me have a problem with the designation of people in their 20s and 30s as “emerging adults”?

Yes, I do! It appears to be a trend in that the age of indisputable adulthood has increased consistently over the years. We can read about 12 year olds leaving their homes and becoming apprentices and cabin boys and the like in the 1800s. The "Child Labor Laws" addressed a very real problem that was common to all the Industrial Revolution societies.

Now, we have laws on the books that can be interpreted as extending a form of childhood to age 26 (obamacare insurance coverage). We have the apocryphal stories about the 'professional students' who delay graduation as far as is possible. We have the permanent 'protest movement' which appears to consist of these ages we are discussing who's salient feature appears to be "no adult employment" (or desire for any).

Our society is far more flexible than ever before but can it take 25%+ minority youth unemployment? Can we expect entry-level learning jobs to be made available when our lawmakers seek to raise "minimum wage" to $10/hour? Can you be an adult, emerging or otherwise, without making a living on your own?

96 posted on 07/31/2012 7:21:44 AM PDT by SES1066 (Government is NOT the reason for my existence!)
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To: SES1066
Can you be an adult, emerging or otherwise, without making a living on your own?

My opinion is that no, you cannot. My oldest daughter joined the Coast Guard at 18 and has been self-supporting since that day. She was an adult, while her brother, who is living at home, is not. I don't think it's a problem if an 18-year-old isn't self-supporting, but he's not an adult.

The people referenced in the article, though, must have jobs, because the discussion is about relationships in the workplace.

101 posted on 07/31/2012 7:54:33 AM PDT by Tax-chick (Live in such a way that your life would not make sense if God did not exist.)
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