What does adulthood mean

Socially, determinants of adulthood traditionally focus on a person taking increasing responsibility for their lives in various ways.

Since the s, however, some of these observable milestones are being achieved at later ages. Increased access to tertiary education has delayed young people leaving home and developing romantic relationships. The increased acceptance of de facto relationships has also reduced the need to leave home and marry in some Western cultures. Read more: What is your real 'biological age', and what does this mean for your health?

Economic changes have also resulted in unstable employment markets and increases in costs of living in some countries, prompting many young people to remain at home and dependent on parents. Due to these social changes, our expectations of young people and their level of social responsibility has also changed.

Freebase 1. Editors Contribution 2. Adulthood is being an adult. Submitted by MaryC on March 3, How to pronounce adulthood? Alex US English. David US English. Mark US English. Daniel British. Libby British. Mia British. Karen Australian. Hayley Australian. Natasha Australian. Veena Indian. Priya Indian. The sexual maturity, the entrenchment of personality and physical fullness gradually occur at this stage summit of life , until, eventually, gives way to old age.

The arrival to adulthood is celebrated and ritualized from social, emotional and even legal points of view , since from this stage a full member of society is formed , with all rights and responsibilities.

The age of majority marks, at a variable age depending on the countries, the legal enforcement of adulthood. It is usually around 18 and 21 years old. It is not precisely a synonym for it, however, and not in vain many specialists consider adolescence as a period that finally dies out in the early twenties.

Adulthood is a gradual process, it is not an immediate growth. In that sense, two different stages of adulthood can be identified: early and middle.

What is expected during early adulthood is a yearning for independence in the individual , which points to needs of physical and emotional space different from the paternal home.

Whether this can be achieved or not this will depend on variables of socioeconomic environment, cultural and geographical location, as well as the capabilities of the individual , or that can be achieved on their own, as a couple or in a group , it is a necessity intrinsically linked to adulthood, especially considering that the mature individual will tend, over time, to start a family.

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Term » Definition. Word in Definition. Princeton's WordNet 5. Wiktionary 2. The boy entered adulthood by undergoing a rite of passage. Freebase 1. Editors Contribution 2. Adulthood is being an adult. Submitted by MaryC on March 3, How to pronounce adulthood? Alex US English. David US English. Mark US English. Daniel British.