There’s a milestone happening in 2025 that you might not be aware of. The youngest generation of adults – Gen Z—is reaching the age of 27. A recent study found that they are only now starting to think of themselves as truly entering adulthood.
How do we as a culture define adulthood? A survey of American adults in four adult generations (Baby Boomer, Gen X, Millennial, Gen Z) was conducted in 2024 that collected opinions about when adulthood begins. The majority of responses to the survey concluded that age 27 is when being an adult starts to feel “real”. Legally, adulthood begins at age 18, but young people today say that acting and feeling like an adult happens more in their mid to late 20s.
According to that same survey, Americans tie adulthood status to financial responsibility. More than half of survey respondents said adulthood started when a person could pay their own bills, and 46% said they felt like adults when they left home to live on their own.
While opinions differ on when adulthood starts to feel real, most of the survey results indicated that people perceive adulthood as more of an uphill battle now than it was in the past. A surprising 71% of all American adults agreed that “adulting” is harder now than it was 30 years ago. Again, the reasons for this conclusion were financial, with 72% attributing the hardship to today’s high cost of living. Young adults in Gen Z told researchers:
• 42% said that adulthood is harder than they thought it would be
• 80% said they feel pressure to be more ahead financially than they are
• 47% think that buying a home is out of their reach
• Almost 40% see having kids isn’t within their financial means
• 56% said they struggle under the level of financial responsibility they have
Whether or not you agree with their perceptions, young adults today feel burdened by financial expectations and managing their personal finances.
What can parents, relatives and friends do to help these young adults?
First, recognize that Gen Z adults are taking financial responsibility on at an earlier age when compared to other generations. According to survey data, Gen Z adults are making financial decisions in their early 20s, which is five to eight years earlier than the generations before them. Those financial actions included opening credit card accounts, paying their own bills, saving for retirement and getting life insurance.
Second, encourage these adults to develop good habits using financial tools: building credit by paying off credit card balances monthly; saving or investing a portion of every paycheck; and sticking to a personal budget. According to the survey, members of all generations agreed that these three financial habits were necessary for “adulting.”
Third, advise young adults to consider setting long-term financial goals. Getting protected with a life insurance policy “makes you an adult” according to 53% of Gen Z members surveyed. While life insurance is generally perceived as more expensive than it actually is, 59 percent of all adults said they would rather pay $15 a month for life insurance than for a subscription to one of the popular media streaming services available today. Since life insurance is generally priced lower for healthy, young adults, age 27 is a great age to apply for a policy!
Finally, older generations can model good financial behaviors. By having a current estate plan in place and sharing that plan with younger family members, parents and grandparents can set an example for future generations.
Content provided by Life Happens, “Adulthood Across Generations” Life Happens, Sept. 2024” copyright 2024. Survey methodology: Talker Research surveyed 2,000 Americans split evenly by generation (500 Gen Z, 500 millennials, 500 Gen X and 500 baby boomers); the survey was commissioned by Life Happens and administered and conducted online by Talker Research between August 12 to August 16, 2024 and released on Sept. 11, 2024.
