The Quarter-Life Crisis

"Quarter-life crisis" is a trendy term for the same uncertainty young people have always experienced when faced with being responsible for themselves and their futures, without mom or dad picking up the bills. Is this "crisis" becoming a more serious problem for today's 20-somethings or is it another case where each generation thinks they have it tougher than the preceding one? In this case, those frustrated twenty-somethings may have a point.

Confusion about what to do "with the rest of your life" is aggravated by the fact that the job market has become less and less stable. It used to be that kids grew up, took jobs with stable companies, and worked there until they retired. Sure, sometimes a mid-life crisis would lead to a career change, but forty years ago that was a neighborhood scandal! These days, it is rare to find people who are with the same company for even five years. It's almost as rare to find a neighborhood where enough residents have lived long enough (or are well enough acquainted) to know about it.

High-paying, high-tech jobs may be at flash-in-the-pan companies that go under, along with any promised benefits and retirement plans. Job security is lower than ever, and people are forced to be more flexible and mobile in their lifestyles. The average American has had seven or eight jobs by the time they turn 30. While some people thrive on that level of change, it is a source of anxiety for most people.

These factors lead to greater instability in people's personal lives. Why buy a house when you aren't sure your employer will exist next year? Will your significant other relocate to another branch on the other end of the country, now that yours is closing down? How can you sign a one-year lease when you may be forced to move in 5 months? At least you can take your cell phone with you!

Information from the US Census Bureau offers some interesting statistics. Most people in their twenties who graduate from college are carrying $10-15,000 in debt and have no immediately employable job skills or work experience. Rising college enrollment rates have led to an increase in competition for internships and jobs requiring four-year degrees. Then there's the debate over increasing that debt to attend graduate school to out-compete those who chose not to do so. Starting your career $20,000 in debt is not conducive to saving for real estate and retirement investments.

Over half of men and more than 40% of women move back in with their parents after graduation. Less than half of young people will have typical adult things like a spouse, a child, and a full-time job by the time they are 30. Forty percent of these kids are still getting financial support from their parents into their late twenties. Reality is ready to bite them in the behind, and they are not going to deal well with it.

People approaching their mid-twenties today were raised in a fast-forward, glitz culture. They expect to hit the big time and live off the interest by the age of 35. They've grown up with money and leisure time, watching their parents enjoy them as well. They've been fed on true love and high-paying dream jobs; they look forward to finishing college and conquering the world.

Not everyone can win on "reality" TV or invent the next Google, but it has become the standard for measuring success among young people. That's a high bar for kids to jump over, especially when their real interest or aptitude lies outside of the computer or performance realms. If they can't sing or act, much less write code, they'll perform dangerous stunts or strip teases to get play on YouTube or MySpace. Working your way up the corporate ladder isn't likely to get you on daytime TV, but a really shocking video will. How many teens consider how that fame will serve them on a resume in 6 or 10 years? How long will it take them to learn to be patient and diplomatic enough for success in a professional environment?

The upshot of all of this is that, eventually, most people settle down to do the adult things that carry us through the rest of our lives. Most of these factors have been around for decades, it's just that there are more people experiencing them. The belief in a rising tide of 20-somethings suffering these "crises" mainly comes from there being so many more public venues in which they can express their anxieties and commiserate with each other. That, and someone dug up a catchy term for their quarter-life crisis. The self-help books and web sites have been happy to help them get through it. For a small fee.