The Odyssey Years

David Brooks has a column in the NYT on the Odyssey Years...the decade of the 20s, when kids graduate from college, take their time finding a full-time job, travel, live in group houses, go to grad school, not marry, not have kids. Not do their thing.

Interesting stat:

They see that people in this age bracket are delaying marriage. They’re delaying having children. They’re delaying permanent employment. People who were born before 1964 tend to define adulthood by certain accomplishments — moving away from home, becoming financially independent, getting married and starting a family.

In 1960, roughly 70 percent of 30-year-olds had achieved these things. By 2000, fewer than 40 percent of 30-year-olds had done the same.

Though Brooks responds a lot of this is due to changes in demographics, education, family life, etc. Though despite the fact that young people don't follow that traditional path of finishing school, marrying, having, kids, etc:

The odyssey years are not about slacking off. There are intense competitive pressures as a result of the vast numbers of people chasing relatively few opportunities. Moreover, surveys show that people living through these years have highly traditional aspirations (they rate parenthood more highly than their own parents did) even as they lead improvising lives.

I think that's true. I think most people in their 20s want to marry, want to settle down, but you can't do that if you're focusing on your career in cities where the cost of living is outrageous and you can't afford a down payment for a $300K one bedroom condo. And if you're smart, and if you want to have a more comfortable life than your parents, than you can't do that in your twenties. Even if that is what you want.