Adolesence, adolthood and boomerang children

4 factors that made teenagers a distinct group

1. Living standards improving

2. Compulsory education in HICs

3. Post-WW2 societal shift to young people having less of a duty to their parents

4. Commerce — teenagers influence and can be effectively marketed to

4 facors that sustained the concept of teenagehood

1. Teenagers growing up slower and so lower rates of teenage pregnancy

2. Industries established to profit off teenage music, fashion and language

3. Internet reduces physically risky behaviours

4. ‘Slow life strategy’- wealthy and forgiving families allow teenagers to not grow up as fast as they can afford to look after them well into their twenties

Cunningham — Western adoloescents in the 1500s

• Would have been workers from about the age of 7

Cunningham — % of family income contributed by children in 🇺🇸 by time father was in 50s

33%

Post-WW2 change in attitudes towards teenagers

• Duty to serve parents weakened and own values and wishes listened to more

‘Adolthood’

• New demographic group

• Teenagers no longer ‘rebel without a cause’ as they did in the 50’s and 60’s

Twenge — change in teenagers 2000-2020

• 🇺🇸 17-18 y/o less likely to have drunk, had sex or got their licence now compared to 20 years ago

• 🇺🇸 13-14 y/o less likely to have a job or gone on dates compared to 20 years ago

Twenge — reason for the slowing down of growing up + therefore the name she gives to the new generation

• Internet!

  • Interactions happen online and at home so trouble etc less likely

• iGen

Life history theory

• In more difficult historical times, teens were force to take a ‘fast life strategy’ and grow up faster

  • Now life (W!) is more forgiving and families wealthier so teenagers can take a slow life strategy

End of adolescence

• Now adolescence continues to about 24/25 years old as older adolescents can delay their full entry into the adult world AND your brain is still developing

Gratton and Scott — 100 year life

• Parents work and live for longer and can therefore financially support their children for longer

  • 20’s are a period of exploration as opposed to the beginning of working

Definition of boomerang children

• Children who return to their family home post-university, or never leave home

Hill (2020) — increase in single young adults living with their parents

• 3.5 million, which is up 1/3 from 10 years ago

Japanese and Italian ways of saying ‘boomerang children’

• Mammoni and bamboccioni— (🇮🇹), or ‘parasite singles’ (🇯🇵)

  • 🇯🇵 views these parasite singles as a ‘damaged generation’ as they are not taking up their rightful place in society

3 causes of boomerang children

1. High youth unemployment

2. Cost of living

3. Shortage of affordable housing due to older people remaining in their homes for longer

Impact of boomerang children on parents

• Parents have less anxiety about their children leaving home, but are also not sociologically older

2 impacts of boomerang children on family structure

• ‘Accordion families’

  • Ever-expanding multi-generational families that extend to encompass both the younger and older generations

• Fall in the birth rate

  • Children have less independence/are more dependent, date less and therefore have fewer children