Songs of innocence and experience

We live in an age of generational turmoil. Baby-boom parents are accused of clinging on to jobs and houses which they should be freeing up for their children. Twentysomethings who can’t afford to leave home and can’t get jobs are attacked as aimless and immature. Both sides of the generational divide should take comfort from this timely, thoughtful work by Steven Mintz, professor of history at the University of Texas at Austin. In Mintz’s view, no one is to blame for these changes, neither the selfish baby boomers nor their Peter Pan offspring. What is happening is a shift in the nature of adulthood, and to understand this we need a historical perspective.

To most of us, adulthood means being able to earn a living, possess a home, get married and rear children, and this implies having autonomy or control over one’s life. In the 19th century becoming an adult was celebrated as a liberation from paternal authority. Today we regard it more as a time of regret and stagnation. It isn’t cool to be adult. Mintz argues for a new understanding of adulthood. It should be seen less as a matter of a steady job and marriage, and more as ‘maturation’ or psychological development.

As Mintz shows, life stages such as adulthood are not fixed and permanent, but cultural and institutional constructs. Childhood was discovered as a distinct stage in the late 18th century, and it was institutionalised in the 19th century by age-segregated environments such as schools. Adolescence was only recognised as a life stage in the early 20th century, when psychologists got down to work.

Today’s generational battle obscures the fact that adulthood is happening later. A new transitional stage has emerged after adolescence: the twenties.