David Plunk, a 22-year-old spring 2006 graduate of the University of Tennessee, lives at home with his mom and sees no reason to rush out the door to quickly settle down with a career, wife and family.
Plunk is part of a growing trend of millions to marry later in life, go to school longer and generally take longer to "find themselves" in life.
This "adultescence" maturation stage has been developing for over 30 years to the point where the parents of today's 20 Somethings were at the opposite end of the spectrum in their adolescence. Some believe this makes a young adult appear more polished heading into the real world, while there are also dangerous risks facing those who do not actively seek full-time employment after graduation or in their early 20s.
Plunk graduated in four years and is considering a future in the law profession. These days, he's more concerned with furthering his education than a life of bills and 9 to 5 jobs.
"I am pretty content on continuing my education so that I can get a better job," he said. "The real world to me is a place where a non-rich kid like me will be fighting an uphill battle to get settled down. I feel like with more education, I would be better prepared to get a job that provides me with enough financial security to be comfortable."
According to United States Census information from 2005, almost 18 million young adults between the ages of 18 and 34 lived at home with their parents. The same statistic from 1970 reveals that just over 11 million young adults were in the same situation.
"There are just so many young people working to aid their educations (in America), since there are so many part-time college students," said Madalla Alibeli, a sociology professor at The University of Memphis. "In Eastern countries, students do not take out the types of loans students here do. This focus on education postpones many important decisions, like delaying marriage."
Marriage is indeed delayed for people today. According to census information, 51 percent of males under the age of 30 were never married by the year 2000. In 1970, that statistic was just 10.5 percent. For females, the number doubled during that same 30-year period, from 19 percent to 38 percent.
"In the past, there was a stigma placed on those who weren't married by a certain age," Alibeli said. "There has been so much culture change over the years to where now people know they can get the same things through cohabitation."
Valerie Jones, director of college counseling at Christian Brothers High School, said it's surprising to some young people what the cost of living is after marriage or moving out of their parents' home.
"I think current society makes it very acceptable for young people to be uncertain and wander for a while, taking more time to settle down," she said. "With economic pressures and high divorce rates, getting married and starting a family should be entered into with commitment and seriousness of purpose."
One expense young adults don't often think about is insurance. Children are taken to the doctor year after year without realizing that someday mom and dad won't always be there to stay home from work and get that fever fixed.
For example, a 17-year-old living at home with his parents wrecks the family car, goes to the hospital for minor injuries and doesn't pay a dime out of his pocket. If that same situation happens seven years later, he could face thousands of dollars worth of bills that a part-time job at a restaurant definitely won't cover.
This is what can happen to uninsured young adults who feel they're too healthy or too good a driver to need a policy, according to David Rabb, a former insurance agent and parent of three children whose ages range from 22 to 28.
"The biggest risk out there for a young person is definitely a car wreck," he said. "You're talking about the car, hospital bills and possible physical therapy. And if the hospital finds out you're uninsured, they won't always be so quick to see you."
According to a 2004 study by The Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation that seeks to improve medical care, over 13 million people between the ages of 19 and 29 were without health insurance. That number has steadily risen over the years.
"I think the whole insurance system is a problem in and of itself," Plunk said. "If most kids my age are healthy, I wouldn't see much reason to worry about insurance.
"It would be nice to see insurance companies take into account that kids my age don't need much coverage and give a sizable discount that could be easily affordable."
Rabb said this kind of attitude towards having insurance is what worries him the most, as young people haven't had enough experiences with medical care to realize how important insurance is.
Chris Causie, a 23-year-old college student, is currently on a parent's insurance plan, but has taken the necessary steps at his full-time job to obtain his own health insurance so he isn't in limbo when his current plan drops him. He said that with his minor back problems he didn't want to be left in the cold. But most young adults don't think this way, Rabb said.
"For a lot of young people, when they either turn 24 or walk across that stage at graduation, they're immediately dropped from their parent's plan," he said. "It's really up to the parents to educate that person on what kind of policy they need after that."
But he said there are options readily available to recent college graduates or any person without insurance. Short-term major medical policies do not usually require any type of medical history check and can be obtained within 24 hours. The downside to a short-term plan is that it does not cover pre-existing conditions. Monthly prices depend on what kind of coverage is needed, but usually don't exceed $100.
"The other alternative is to start a month or so before you're going to lose your current plan and apply for fully underwritten major medical insurance," Rabb said. "It's more of a permanent policy, and there is a detailed medical history questionnaire, but it also costs a little more than the short-term plan."
Rabb said parents should educate their children as they grow and Jones agrees, as she believes many young adults are currently in a dependent situation at home.
"A lot of parents now are 'helicopter parents' who hover over their children too much," Jones said. "Sometimes when students get to college and need to make independent decisions, they are ill equipped because their parents have always made the decisions."
Once these children exit their parents' home for good, millions are living together unmarried with a significant other. The Census reported in 2003 that 5.1 million people were cohabitating, a staggering increase over the 531,000 who were living together unmarried in 1970.
"Why should anyone settle down today?" Alibeli asked. "Mobility is more important today, as people are constantly moving around before ever settling down. But I think a positive from this is that people are more ready and more mature for marriage and life overall when they hit their late 20s or early 30s."
There are multiple issues older adolescents deal with today, and statistics show more of them stay longer in the nest and shy away from committing to life-changing events such as marriage or the first step in a career path. But whereas in the past these children would have been viewed with much skepticism, today's culture views them as just another face in the crowd.
