Book "The Price of Independence" Tackles Econcomic Issues Facing Young Adults

Continuing with a recent theme I've developed on this blog, the economic situation facing young adults today in the U.S., I wanted to mention the recent book The Price of Independence: The Economics of Early Adulthood. Princeton University posted an interview with Cecilia Rouse, a co-editor of the book. In addressing trends of young adults living with their parents or with other, non-marital roommates, Rouse's answer encompasses more than just economic features:

When the [book's] authors looked at the different potential economic factors — debt, housing costs, the economy, etc. — they found that these factors do play some role in some of these changing trends... But you could also argue that in all of these countries, including the U.S., there have been big changes in the social norms.

I encourage everyone to read the full interview, which is available at the above link. Another good source for studies of the economics of young adults is the "Demos" research organization (list of articles by this group).

Happy Fourth of July everyone, and enjoy the fireworks!

Money-Management Advice for New College Grads

Personal finance writer Kathy Kristof offers advice to new college graduates on managing their money in the coming years. A key piece of her advice is conveyed in the following passages:

There are a handful of money moves you can make now that will virtually ensure your financial security -- and possibly create great wealth -- later in life. The younger you are, the greater the opportunities and the easier the wealth strategies are to execute. But if you start out spending too much, too fast, your ability to set yourself up for long-term wealth diminishes and eventually evaporates. That makes the first months and years after graduation pivotal to lifetime financial security...

The key, experts say, is a simple one: Live like a poor college student for a couple more years. While you're doing that, you can pay off your debt, start a savings plan and embrace healthy habits that will serve you well for life.

Given that many new college graduates will be eager to accelerate their transition to full-fledged adulthood, and perhaps see acquisition of material goods as a way to do so, Kristof's advice is particularly important.

Society for the Study of Emerging Adulthood to Form

The people who've put on the biennial Emerging Adulthood conferences (Jeff Arnett, Jennifer Tanner, and others) have moved forward in crystallizing their informal working group into a formal organization, namely the Society for the Study of Emerging Adulthood. As part of this growth, there's been a major revamping of the group's website. The website states that a 2009 conference will be held, but details are not yet available.

"Politico" News Site Introduces Section for Young Adults

Election news website The Politico has a component entitled Campus Politico to cover issues related to young voters. The word "campus" strongly implies a focus on college-student voters, but coverage is also being given to non-college youth. A new article, for example, reports that individuals under age 30 with at least some college have voted in some of the major presidential primary elections this season at a far higher rate than their similar-age counterparts who never attended college.

Such a result is hardly surprising. In his book Bowling Alone, Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam notes that greater amounts of education are associated with greater civic engagement (p. 18). Still, greater attention to young voters -- especially those not attending college -- is worthwhile.

National Council on Family Relations Explores Transition to Adulthood

Welcome to visitors who have arrived at this site via the NCFR Report's Family Focus on the Transition to Adulthood! The Family Focus section includes eight articles on the transition to adulthood, including one by me and my colleagues. As I read the other articles, I may share some reactions on this blog.

I invite you to browse the blog postings that appear sequentially up and down the page, and in the archives. If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to contact me at alan.reifman@ttu.edu.

Narcissism and the Current Youth Generation

Today's New York Times had an interesting article on whether the current generation of young people are more narcissistic than those of previous decades. Two sets of researchers looked into this question and came up with vastly different conclusions. (Thanks to Sylvia Niehuis for sending me the link.)

Young Adults' Views of Love and Relationships

(This posting has been edited, and the link updated, on 7/25/18.)

AOL and pollster John Zogby (best known for his election surveys) teamed up for a national study of 20-69 year-olds' views of love and relationships. A summary of the findings is available.

Of greatest relevance to Emerging Adulthood, of course, are the results for the youngest respondents in the survey. Some age-group differences are discussed in the linked article, but they appear fairly modest in magnitude. For example:

A high percentage (44%) in all generations, including 50% of adults in their 20s – don’t believe that they need to be married to validate the commitment of a long-term relationship.

As I've often expressed in the past, studying the dynamics of young adults' attitudes, decision-making, and relationship establishment in the romantic domain would seem to be a fruitful research area.