How old would you say are the "youth" of today?

[disneychrista]

Under 30s are still gaining life and work experience.........over 30 you've starting to get both and life and work experience. As the under 30's at my work call it.......they are still learning to "adult".

That's why they are in the young adult category (in my mind). My daughters are 28 & 26 and I wouldn't think of them as "youth."

 

[tvguy]

That's why they are in the young adult category (in my mind). My daughters are 28 & 26 and I wouldn't think of them as "youth."

Mine are 28 and 32 and I still consider them as youths. 32 year old bought first house 2 years ago, in June had first child and learned adulting the next week when the AC on his house died ($17,000 to replace) and their car died (to the tune of $2,000).
28 year old closed escrow on her first house last week. THAT process was a serious adulting lesson. Now she is trying to prioritize what to spend money on. Bed, washer dryer and burglar alarm top of the list, furniture further down the list.

 

[Aurora79]

Anything under 25 seems like a baby to me, so I’ll go with that.

I’m almost 40.

 

[RamblingMad]

12 or under.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Hmm without looking at definitions my thought is it's a moving target dependent on the times.

When used as a phrase "today's youth" seems to be aimed at different age cohorts depending on the topic at hand although milliennials seems to be the hot phrase over today's youth even when people are referring to individuals who are considered to be the generation after millennials.

Things like buying habits may be viewed in a different light than say political awareness which may be viewed in a different light than how social media impacts lives which may be viewed in a different light than technology awareness which may be different than behaviors once seen as rites of passage (like getting a DL or driving one's own vehicle or leaving the nest).

 

[fly girl]

When I think of youth demographic my mind goes to teens and twenties.

 

[DLgal]

I find it insulting to call a 21-25 year old a "youth." Shoot, by 25, I had been married for 3 years and was expecting my first child. We were both 3 years into actual careers and had been fully independent from our parents since college graduation. If someone had called me a youth to my face, I would have had something to say.

 

[ronandannette]

I find it insulting to call a 21-25 year old a "youth." Shoot, by 25, I had been married for 3 years and was expecting my first child. We were both 3 years into actual careers and had been fully independent from our parents since college graduation. If someone had called me a youth to my face, I would have had something to say.

I don't think anybody ever would have, based on your circumstances. I'm one of the ones that said I would consider anyone under 30 to be "today's youth". This is based on the fact that many, many people in that age range have not come close to achieving the levels of maturity and responsibility you described having had at that age. In my workplace not one single one of the employees in their 20's are married and for many of them it's their first "real" job.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I think it is a matter of perspective. I would say 25 or less.

 

[McKelly]

I think it is a matter of perspective. I would say 25 or less.

I agree with this.

 

[jo-jo]

I'm still learning to "adult" and I'm in my 60's. Every age had new life events to deal with.

I think under 20. You hit mid 20's and you get "I'm old enough to do what I want" but still like parents to foot the bills.

 

[Cadiewampus]

Mine are 28 and 32 and I still consider them as youths. 32 year old bought first house 2 years ago, in June had first child and learned adulting the next week when the AC on his house died ($17,000 to replace) and their car died (to the tune of $2,000).
28 year old closed escrow on her first house last week. THAT process was a serious adulting lesson. Now she is trying to prioritize what to spend money on. Bed, washer dryer and burglar alarm top of the list, furniture further down the list.

Wow $17 k how big a unit did he buy?

 

[RamblingMad]

Wow $17 k how big a unit did he buy?

They must live in a warehouse. To replace both my AC and Furnace, it cost me $5k. And my home is larger than the national median.

 

[tzolkin]

I'm one of the ones that said I would consider anyone under 30 to be "today's youth". This is based on the fact that many, many people in that age range have not come close to achieving the levels of maturity and responsibility you described having had at that age. In my workplace not one single one of the employees in their 20's are married and for many of them it's their first "real" job.

This was basically my response. I believe early 20s should be the cutoff, but in practice I would now say 30ish.

Like the PP, my husband and I were extremely independent so we would definitely have been considered "adults" before age 25. We had children, we owned a home, we both had careers. Even as teenagers we were doing things that some adults struggle with (ex. I did my parents' taxes myself when I was in HS and college so that I could file my own FAFSA).

Virtually all of the "young people" I know now have their parents supporting or helping them in some fashion. Every married couple I know under 30 still has their parents pay for some of their bills (cell phone, auto insurance, student loans, etc). Perhaps they're just doing it to be nice, but I really feel like if you're mature enough to get married, have children, whatever, then you should be able to shoulder the responsibility.

In the US would say like 16-30. I'm 48. "Youth(s)" strikes me as the space between children and adults. Interestingly I think I would have put the upper end lower maybe10 years ago--I think I might have put it as lows as 24 or even 22. I suppose it must just be that I'm older, but it doesn't seem that way--I really feel like today's twenty-somethings are just different than in the past...

I don't think there's anything different about them as people, I just think that parenting and societal expectations have changed.

Our oldest child is 20 and she has lived completely independently for the last year. (And even before that we did not pay for any expenses other than schooling and health care.) Even when I say that she pays for everything and lives on her own, people still assume that we must pay for some of her bills. I can't tell you how many times I have received a "Wait, you don't even pay for her cell phone? Or her car insurance? Or her...?" Nope. She even pays for her own medical copays and prescriptions (she is on our insurance but we have a family plan so there's no additional cost).

I think this is because for all the under-30s that we know (including the married ones that I mentioned above), they believe that they are "independent adults" even thought their parents are still supporting them in some way. So the expectation is that's the norm and that everyone who is an independent adult must have some support from their parents.


Slightly OT, but I know someone is going to be offended by my post. I'm not judging parents helping their kids and I have no issue with doing nice things for your children (putting a big chunk toward their student loans, helping them with a car, paying for a vacation, etc). I just believe that it's important for them to learn the skills necessary to being an adult (budgeting, paying their own bills, etc.) It's hard for someone to learn how to live within their means when they don't have an accurate picture of what their "means" are.

 

[tvguy]

Wow $17 k how big a unit did he buy?

I think he overpaid by about $7,000. However, he does have a roof mounted unit, so they have to hire a crane to lift the old unit off and lift the new one on. That was about $500. And the old unit had a non-standard sheet metal setup on the roof, so that all had to be custom fabricated. Not sure of the tonnage of the ac unit

 

[tvguy]

They must live in a warehouse. To replace both my AC and Furnace, it cost me $5k. And my home is larger than the national median.

1081 square foot house. But we're in California and the building permit alone was $1,500. Throw in the crane rental and the sheetmetal work I mentioned above, that's darn near half what you paid. And pretty much if your ducts are more than 10 years old, you have to replace all of them with new energy efficient ones. That is thousands also. I think the require duct leak test is $500.
I have a 2010 square foot house with a Heat Pump. I paid $3,000 installed for a new one in 1991, and my service company says I should plan on about $10,000 to replace it.
Looking online just the Heat Pump itself runs $2,500 to $3,700 for brands I have never heard of (Direct Comfort, Goodman). Brands I have heard of cost more (Lennox, Trane, Carrier, American Standard, Bryant, Amana, Ruud).

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Um, well, I think "youth" and "young adult" are different.

Youth: 13 - 18
Young adult: 19 - 24

 

[RamblingMad]

1081 square foot house. But we're in California and the building permit alone was $1,500. Throw in the crane rental and the sheetmetal work I mentioned above, that's darn near half what you paid. And pretty much if your ducts are more than 10 years old, you have to replace all of them with new energy efficient ones. That is thousands also. I think the require duct leak test is $500.
I have a 2010 square foot house with a Heat Pump. I paid $3,000 installed for a new one in 1991, and my service company says I should plan on about $10,000 to replace it.
Looking online just the Heat Pump itself runs $2,500 to $3,700 for brands I have never heard of (Direct Comfort, Goodman). Brands I have heard of cost more (Lennox, Trane, Carrier, American Standard, Bryant, Amana, Ruud).

My house is 3000 square feet, and I have two AC units and two furnaces. I went through Costco, and they subcontracted out the work.

 

[RamblingMad]

Um, well, I think "youth" and "young adult" are different.

Youth: 13 - 18
Young adult: 19 - 24

I think, youth is preteens. If you’re not learning to be independent in your teens, then that’s a problem.

 

[chiefmickeymouse]

Well....I'm 51, so I'd say 0 - 52?