Emerging Adulthood in Australia: How is this Stage Lived?

AbstractThe period during which young people are financially and residentially dependent on their parents is lengthening and extending into adulthood. This has created an in-between period of “emerging adulthood” where young people are legal adults but without the full responsibilities and autonomy of independent adults. There is considerable debate over whether emerging adulthood represents a new developmental phase in which young people invest in schooling, work experiences, and life skills to increase their later lifetime chances of success or a reflection of poor economic opportunities and high living costs that constrain young people into dependence. In this chapter we examine the incidence of emerging adulthood and the characteristics and behaviours of emerging adults, investigating data from the Household, Income, and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey. We find that a majority of young Australians who are 22 years old or younger are residentially and financial dependent on their parents and thus, emerging adults. We also find that a substantial minority of 23- to 25-year-olds meet this definition and that the proportion of young people who are emerging adults has grown over time. Emerging adults have autonomy in some spheres of their lives but not others. Most emerging adults are enrolled in school. Although most also work, they often do so through casual jobs and with low earnings. Young people with high-income parents receive co-residential and financial support longer than young people with low-income parents. Similarly, non-Indigenous young people and young people from two-parent families receive support for longer than Indigenous Australians or young people from single-parent backgrounds. The evidence strongly supports distinguishing emerging adulthood from other stages in the life course.