{"id":2731,"date":"2019-07-18T07:43:05","date_gmt":"2019-07-18T07:43:05","guid":{"rendered":"\/blog\/?p=2731"},"modified":"2025-06-29T09:43:48","modified_gmt":"2025-06-29T09:43:48","slug":"why-is-adulting-trending","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lemonade.com\/blog\/why-is-adulting-trending\/","title":{"rendered":"Why is Adulting Trending?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cAdulting is hard.\u201d How many times have you read that sentence on your social feed? Sentiments about adulting are everywhere, from hilarious memes to resentful tweets. <\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s pretty incredible that this noun-turned-verb has picked up such speed in recent years: \u2018Adulting\u2019 was Oxford Dictionary\u2019s Word of the Year in 2016, and Google searches for \u2018adulting\u2019 have increased dramatically. <\/span>
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As a word so many people identify with, \u2018adulting\u2019 sparks curiosity. Here at Lemonade<\/a>, we were wondering: Does this word\u2019s popularity signify a meaningless trend, or a deeper shift of our societal norms?<\/p>\n

\"Interest<\/p>\n

We decided to investigate. <\/span><\/p>\n

Millennials aren\u2019t the only ones<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Turns out, several sociologists and psychologists have also noticed a shift among millennials in their 20s. <\/span><\/p>\n

Sociologist Kathleen Shaputis labels millennials the \u2018Peter Pan Generation,\u2019 because they\u2019re delaying growing up. Many sociologists don\u2019t consider people in their 20s to be \u2018adolescents,\u2019 but calling them \u2018adults\u2019 just no longer seems right. So they\u2019ve given our 20s a new name: \u2018emerging adulthood.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Emerging adulthood is \u201ca period of development bridging adolescence and young adulthood, during which young people are no longer adolescents but have not yet attained full adult status,\u201d according to Professor Jeff Arnett. This period usually spans from ages 18-25, but can last up to age 29. <\/span><\/p>\n

Turns out \u2018emerging adulthood\u2019 is how sociologists define \u2018adulting.’<\/span><\/p>\n

Since millennials and academics alike are coining new terms for this in-between stage, something must be at play here. People in their 20s have fit into the \u2018adult\u2019 category for every generation up until now. <\/span><\/p>\n\t

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<\/i>Why is being an \u2018adult\u2019 suddenly a temporary action, rather than a consistent state of mind?<\/a><\/i><\/p>\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t

<\/i>Tweet this!<\/span><\/a><\/div>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n \n

\u201cWe\u2019re in the thick of what one sociologist calls \u201cthe changing timetable for adulthood,\u2019\u201d wrote New York Times <\/em><\/span>journalist\u00a0<\/span>Robin Henig<\/span>. <\/span><\/p>\n

Whoa, that\u2019s a big statement. Let\u2019s put on our sociologist caps and look at the data.<\/span><\/p>\n

Diving deep<\/strong><\/h3>\n

It seems millennials are leaning on their parents much more than previous generations did. Nearly one in three millennials are living with mom and dad – it\u2019s become the most common living situation among this age group, according to the <\/span>US Census Bureau<\/span>. Not only that, but millennials are also three times more likely to get financial help from their parents than in the past, according to\u00a0<\/span>USA Today.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are a combination of factors\u00a0contributing to this trend: the 2008 recession, increasing debt, the rise of helicopter parenting, and rising housing costs, among others. <\/span><\/p>\n

These rising socioeconomic trends lead not only to a change in lifestyle, but also a change in mindset.<\/p>\n

If your parents cook, clean, or run errands for you – or pay for you to do so – it\u2019s difficult to feel like a completely independent adult, and to learn how to budget effectively<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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<\/i>In fact, 40% of millennials say financial independence is their first priority when defining adulthood (@TIME<\/span><\/a><\/span>)<\/a><\/i><\/p>\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t

<\/i>Tweet this!<\/span><\/a><\/div>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n <\/span><\/p>\n

To top it off, millennials tend to have a different attitude towards financial stability when it comes to relationships: Nearly three in four believe that financial security should come before marriage, while only 55% of older Americans felt similarly, according to The Atlantic.<\/span>\u00a0Their uncertain financial status, coupled with this new attitude, can only mean one thing: putting marriage off.<\/span><\/p>\n

The numbers speak for themselves. In 1960, the median marriage age was 20 for women and 23 for men. Now, it\u2019s 27 for women and 29 for men, and is still rising. (The Atlantic) <\/span><\/p>\n

Btw, this isn\u2019t only because of millennials\u2019 economic prospects – it\u2019s also due several societal changes that happened around the same time, such as:<\/span><\/p>\n

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  • The need for more higher education due to the information economy <\/span><\/li>\n
  • The rise of premarital sex, cohabitation, and birth control <\/span><\/li>\n
  • The fact that young women are feeling less rushed to have kids, given their wide range of career options and access to birth control<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    \"Why<\/p>\n

    A changing mindset<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    In short, millennials are delaying traditional milestones of adulthood more and more. This does more than just alter their lifestyle – it impacts the way they see the world, according to our Chief Behavioral Officer Dan Ariely.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u201cWhen you\u2019re a kid, your mind is trained to think only one day at a time. As you get older, you have to change your mindset and think more long term. It\u2019s becoming more difficult for young adults to think about prioritizing their future selves<\/a>, since they\u2019re not reaching the milestones that typically force them to do so, such as getting married and having kids. Now, we have teenage years, take 2.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    There we have it. Due to these societal shifts, people in their 20s don\u2019t feel like real adults because they haven\u2019t reached traditional milestones. Therefore, they don\u2019t often associate themselves with the noun \u2018adult\u2019 just yet. But sometimes, they\u2019re forced to <\/span>behave<\/span><\/i> as adults – that\u2019s where the verb \u2018adulting\u2019 comes in.<\/span><\/p>\n

    People in their 20s have to do adult-like actions sometimes, but aren\u2019t used to doing them all the time. According to a topic model analysis by <\/span>Megan Risdal<\/span>, when people tweet about \u2018adulting\u2019 on Twitter, they most often refer to temporary actions that make them <\/span>feel <\/span><\/i>like adults, such as paying down loans<\/a>, signing a lease for their first apartment<\/a>, and figuring out taxes<\/a>. When they temporarily do these adult activities, they often feel younger than their actions. <\/span><\/p>\n

    The bottom line<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    So why is adulting trending? Because so many millennials relate to this feeling of temporarily acting as adults, but not feeling like a complete adult. <\/span><\/p>\n

    But it\u2019s pretty clear that the rise of the word \u2018adulting\u2019 is more than just a temporary fad – this phenomenon doesn\u2019t look like it\u2019s going away anytime soon. The average age of marriage is still on the rise, and it\u2019s becoming more socially acceptable to stay in your parents\u2019 home past college. <\/span><\/p>\n\t

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    <\/i>Adulting is here to stay. And the system is catching on.<\/a><\/i><\/p>\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t

    <\/i>Tweet this!<\/span><\/a><\/div>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n \n

    It\u2019s no coincidence that fintech is on the rise – it\u2019s an industry full of emerging startups trying to make these intimidating \u2018adulting\u2019 actions easier. For almost any scary adulting action, there\u2019s an app. <\/span><\/p>\n

    It\u2019s no wonder that here at Lemonade<\/a>, our social feed is no different from the rest. When our Lemonade members tweet about getting a policy<\/a>, many of them also associate it with \u2018adulting.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

    \"Lemonade<\/p>\n

    Here\u2019s to embracing this new reality, and creating systems and apps to help millennials navigate this scary (but exciting) stage of life.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Pro tip: Adult in 90 secs. Get a renters insurance policy with Lemonade<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n