The Rise of the Twenteenagers

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERABaker boy hat: Boohoo | Slogan tee: Boohoo | Jeans: New Look | Vans*: Footway

I was listening to a podcast recently (moment of smugness for the fact that I’m taking my mission to spend my time consuming better forms of content this year seriously, please) and the presenters discussed a new study that’s been done into adolescence and adulthood. According to said study, adulthood no longer starts at 18 as it traditionally has in the eyes of society and the law; in fact, we’re now in the adolescent phase until around the age of 25. 

Now, I’m the ripe old age of 27 so unfortunately it looks like I’m offish an adult whichever way you look at it, but this new study did get me thinking. Yep, Carrie Bradshaw style, I couldn’t help but wonder… are we a generation of twenteenagers?

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOn the one hand I’ve got a few friends my age who are super-settled, functioning, married-with-kids-stylee, bonafide adulting adults. Then on the other, I’ve got friends who still live at home, spend their dollar on clothes and going out and essentially still live that good life we did when we were 17.

And me, well I seem to fall somewhere in the middle. I moved home for around six months after uni, but have been renting various places with Lauren ever since. And before then, I bumbled my way through uni on a mixture of wages from my two jobs and a hefty student loan – so while I wasn’t exactly financially independent, I’ve been financially independent of my parents since I was around nineteen.

Howevs, the late adolescence thing definitely rings true too. I still spend my weekends with my boyfriend or having a tip top laff with my m8s. Babies and settling down are still something way, way in the future. Too much of my wages still go on mascara and holidays. I still try to dress like a yoot (moment of appreciation for my Vans by the way – how happy are we that these have rolled back around?) and I still wonder what exactly I’ll be when I grow up.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERASo ultimately I think there’s probably a lot of truth in this study, and plenty of us did just enter our twenteens once our teens ended. But really, is this a bad thing?

I think if we could all cling onto some of the positives of the teenage mindset – caring about our friends, wanting to have a good time, being optimistic and hopeful and wearing/doing whatever the bleedin’ Nora we want – then we’d enjoy happier, simpler lives.

Throw in some of that good grown-up stuff – financial responsibility, being bov about the environment and learning to appreciate a slow cooker – and I think we could just strike the perfect balance.

What do you all think about the ‘twenteenagers’? Let me know in the comments!

4 Responses

  1. Kemi February 6, 2018 / 11:41 pm

    I can definitely relate – although I for sure FEEL like an adult, all that baby + settling down stuff seems very far in the future. Most of my friends are actually in the same bucket as me although their are a few people from back in the at school that are already getting pretty serious with their lives.

    http://skylish.co.uk

  2. Danielle February 7, 2018 / 8:04 pm

    I completely get this post. I am 23 and I feel like I am in a limbo stage at the moment. I am settled down in a relationship and we live together in our own home. But, at the same time we are very independent and still live like teens!

    Danielle xx
    http://www.fashionbeautyblog.co.uk/

  3. Velvet Blush February 7, 2018 / 8:06 pm

    I think it’s definitely true, like even now I’m working full time after Uni but I still don’t feel like I’m adulting, more of that in between phase haha. I did try a slow cooker but I couldn’t get the hang of it xx

    Velvet Blush

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