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High Hopes and Hidden Inequalities

Traditional markers of adulthood have become increasingly delayed in the latter half of the 20th century. Jeffrey Arnett’s (2000, 2004) groundbreaking theory explained this delay as the result of a new life stage—emerging adulthood—that has arisen out of a changing economic, social, and historical landscape. Within an economy that favors workers with college degrees, achieving financial independence requires prolonged investments in higher education throughout the late teens and 20s. At the same time, the loosening of traditional constraints such as gender, sexuality, and religion has removed external pressures on marriage and childbearing and given young people more freedom to define the course of their lives. Consequently, Arnett (2004, p. 469) writes: