The path from adolescence to adulthood has changed dramatically over the past several decades. Compared with earlier generations, today young adults spend more time in school, enter careers later, form long-term romantic partnerships in different ways, delay marriage and parenthood, and move in and out of adult roles with less predictability. These changes raise important questions: What does it mean to “grow up” today? Are young people simply taking longer to become adults, or has the very nature of adulthood changed? In this talk, I provide an overview of the modern transition to adulthood — what it is, why it matters, and how it has evolved across recent generations. I examine changes in education, work, relationships, parenthood, and health-related behaviors such as substance use. Rather than viewing young adulthood as a fixed stage that looks the same across time, I consider how historical circumstances shape the opportunities, challenges, and expectations young people face. The goal is to better understand not only today’s young adults, but also the changing social landscape in which each generation comes of age.

About the speaker: Justin Jager is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology and Associate Research Professor at the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan. As a developmental psychologist, he studies how young people grow into adulthood and how that process has changed across generations. His research looks at the many parts of life that shape this transition, including family, friends, school, work, romantic relationships, parenthood, and health-related behaviors such as substance use. He is especially interested in how social and historical changes alter the opportunities, expectations, and challenges young people face as they move toward independence. By studying adolescence and young adulthood in its social and historical context, his work helps shed light on what it means to “grow up” in a changing world.