Welcome to "Adulthood: What's the Rush?"
You're probably already shaking your head at the title of this blog. I know, I know, I get it all the time. "'What's the rush? I'll tell you what's the rush," you're probably saying. "I want my kids...
View ArticleWhat does it mean to be "adult" today?
I'm intrigued by this question: What marks you as an adult today? Or more accurately, I'm intrigued that we're asking the question. Today if you tell young people that you're an adult only when you're...
View ArticleWill the "Youth Vote" Turn Out? Probably Not
It's probably not smart to predict the so-called youth vote today, but what the heck. Here goes. I'm putting the share of those under 30 voting today at less 23%. And the majority of those will be in...
View ArticleIs Blaming Parents for "Failure to Launch" a Red Herring?
Have we raised a generation too willing to coast along on mom and dad's support? Have we spent too much time raising their self-esteem and not enough time making them face the music? Have we given them...
View ArticleYoung adults on the job--different motivations, different goals
What motivates you to show up and do your job every day? Speak to those motivations and you will understand how to get the best out of someone. In his new book, Daniel Pink, a Wired contributing...
View ArticleThis generation may be slow to embrace “adulthood,” but they're much more...
Through our hundreds of interviews, one message came through loud and clear: it's critical to be strategic early on. Young people, and their parents, realize that the game has changed. In fact, you...
View ArticleIs it time to stand-down from the arms race that is college today?
The insidious thing about the education arms race is that it may be "smart for one, but dumb for all."read more
View ArticleIs Marriage “Just a Piece of Paper” Today?
Young adults are in the vanguard in carving a new and slower path to marriage. While the Boomers took early steps in changing the path to marriage, young adults have made this slower path the norm,...
View ArticleHow will the recession affect this optimistic, institution-trusting GenY?
Two things about the recession and its effects are dawning on young adults we've interviewed so far. First, the future is no longer as carefree as it once was. A second realization for those in the...
View ArticleUnemployment nears 16% for young adults--and you wonder why they're moving home
If we had one goal with this book it was to change the conversation we have with our kids and them with us. But I fear that our book pales in comparison to the effect the recession will have (has had)...
View ArticleIs this generation as resilient as were children of the Great Depression?
Many in this generation, groomed as they were to succeed and believe in themselves, are finding themselves on unfamiliar ground. Adversity is not in their vocabulary. They grew up amid affluence (even...
View ArticleGeneration Stuck: The One-two Punch of College Debt and a Recession
The promise of college is the American Dream for working-class parents like David's. David's dad had bigger dreams for his son than removing asbestos in a refinery. Yet, the ins and outs of college...
View ArticleA new generation of "hippies" seeking meaning beyond the Mall
In interviewing young people, it strikes me that in some ways, this generation is a return to the hippie era. Among a select group of mostly college-graduates from more affluent, educated families,...
View ArticleSuicide higher among young adults
As bullying and suicide take center stage, it is worth noting that young men ages 20-24 have the second-highest rate for suicide. (The highest risk is older men over age 65.). According to the National...
View ArticleDeciding what to do with your life. For graduates, four-year college isn't...
It's graduation season. As I head to Minneapolis for my nephews' high school graduations in a few weeks (they're twins, thus the plurals), I can't help but flash back to the pool scene in The Graduate....
View ArticleEmpty nest or empty wallets? How much are parents spending on their young...
As the recession hangs on, this graduation season will see many more young adults back in their childhood bedroom as they search for their first job. So just how much do parents spend on their young...
View ArticleInsecurity Is Not a Recipe for Entrepreneurs--The Effects of the Recession on...
I was asked by a reporter recently whether this generation was an entrepreneurial generation. It's a question on our minds lately as we continue to endure this prolonged recession. We hope beyond hope...
View ArticleGen-Y Optimism Prevails, But Should It?
Given the current turmoil in the country--from rising poverty rates to enduring unemployment to political polarization, we wondered how the latest generation was feeling about their futures. In a set...
View ArticleYoung Men's Futures in an Era of Creative Destruction
It's like a low-grade fever that never quite goes away but never quite blossoms into a full-blown virus either, this anxiety we live with. It does not yet feel threatening, but the low-grade fatigue...
View ArticleSmaller Families Mean Fewer Siblings to Care for Mom and Dad
I just read an article in the latest issue of The Future of Children that made me drop my pencil. Deep in an article by Susan Bianchi on work-family balance was this little nugget: When the average...
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