You pay your own bills, own a car, have started sending Christmas cards to people you don't know and have been to more of your friend’s farmhouse Pinterest weddings than you can count. Yet, despite the various adult responsibilities you have, do you ever feel like you’re still just a kid masquerading as a real, functional person? You’re not alone.
According to a study by Fly Research on behalf of Beagle Street life insurance, most people don’t feel like real adults until they’re 29 years old.
Why the specific age? Well, after interviewing 2,000 people aged 18 and over, researchers found that the No. 1 thing making people feel like adults is home ownership. And it just so happens that most people put some money down on a house around age 29. Well, we guess nothing says “I’m a big man/woman” like finding out the true meaning of “in escrow.”
On the opposite end of the spectrum, most people felt that the biggest reason for still feeling like a large baby with a driver’s license was financial dependence on parents. Having Dad front your Verizon bill while Mom’s company provides you with health insurance is no better than living with them and playing by their curfew rules.
"More adults than ever before are leaving it later in life to move out from the parental home, get married or have children," Frank Furedi, a sociologist from the University of Kent, said in a Beagle Street press release. "This is having a knock-on effect to how old and 'grown up' people actually perceive themselves to be, which suggests that the old adage of age being but a number is factually true."
Basically, what really catapults you from large, post-pubescent man-child to fully-functioning human are significant life events that give a sense of responsibility. Up until that point, you’re still just a kid who can get into bars.
Top 10 signs of becoming an adult … and that you’re still a child.
Source: Fly Research.
What makes people feel like an adult?
1. Buying a home — 64%
2. Having kids — 63%
3. Marriage — 52%
4. Having a pension — 29%
5. Being in charge of your home's appearance — 22%
6. Life insurance — 21%
7. Getting excited about staying in for the night — 21%
8. DIY work — 18%
9. Being a dinner party host — 18%
10. A joint bank account — 17%
What makes you feel like a kid?
1. Financial reliance on parents — 42%
2. Living in your parents' home — 36%
3. Computer games — 31%
4. Kids' movies, e.g. Inside Out or Frozen — 30%
5. Enjoying cartoons on TV — 29%
6. A fear of becoming an adult/responsibility — 28%
7. Having no desire for a "real job" — 22%
8. Wanting to travel across the world — 20%
9. Having young role models — 20%
10. An absence of life experience — 19%
Reader survey: When do you feel you've reached adulthood?
“Having a full-time 9-to-5 job I considered a career.” – Chris, 27
“When my friends started getting married and having children. Not that I’m actually doing that myself, but man, seeing them go through that makes me feel like I’m 50.” – Emily, 25.
“When Home Depot became fun.” – Josh, 31
“When this girl I knew confessed to me that she was originally shy around me because I was ‘one of the older girls.’ I’m 26. She’s 23. Fuck.” – Natasha, 26
“I’m 30, but I still don’t feel like an adult.” – Mattias, 30
“When I stopped going out on weeknights … that’s when I realized I was elderly.” – Brian, 22
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