Maybe 30 is the new 20.



Data released recently from the Census Bureau show that 30-year-olds today — as compared to those aged 30 in 1975 — are less likely to have hit many of the milestones that have come to define adulthood. In 1974 three in four 30-year-olds had married, had a child, were not enrolled in school anymore and had lived on their own; in 2015, just one in three could say that.

More 30-year-olds haven’t hit major adult milestones

Percentage of 30-year-olds who were/are living these realities 1975 2015 Live on their own 90% 70% Have ever married 89% 57% Live with a child 76% 47% Own a home 56% 33% Source: Census Bureau

This isn’t the first data to show that millennials — generally defined as people ages 18 to 34 as of 2015 — are living more like the younger people of yesteryear. More young people are living at home -- with parents, stepparents, grandparents and relatives -- than have in 75 years, according to data released recently by Trulia, which analyzed Census data.





What’s more, living with your parents is now “the most common young adult living arrangement for the first time on record,” a survey by the Washington D.C.-based think tank Pew Research Center. And data released

Young people are also less likely to be married by the time they are 34 than any previous generation, according to data from Pew. While in 1960, only about 1 in 10 adults ages 25 to 34 had never been married, nowadays that number is nearly half.

Millennials are also delaying having kids longer than previous generations — with many saying they never want children. The birth rate for women in their 20s was “by far the slowest pace of any generation of young women in U.S. history,” a survey out last year by Washington D.C. based social and economic policy think tank Urban Institute found. Furthermore, about one in three millennials say they don’t want kids at all, according to data from research firm Cassandra Report.



One reason many millennials are delaying many of these “adult” milestones is because of the burden of their student loan payments. More than half (56%) of millennials versus just 43% of adults overall with past or current student loans say they have delayed a major life event because of these loans, a survey released last year by personal finance website Bankrate.com found.

Millennials are also more likely to be in school in their 30s: 8% were enrolled in school at age 30 in 2015 versus 1% of 30-year-olds in 1975, according to the Census Bureau, which may also delay some of these milestones.

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