#Economicsecurity

In a striking shift from older generations, new census findings show that many young Americans are delaying core adulthood milestones. By 1975, roughly half of Americans aged 25 to 34 had already moved out of their parents’ home, found steady work, married, and started a family. Fifty years later, less than a quarter have achieved all four of those traditional life markers. In 2024, about 28% of young adults lived on their own with jobs, yet the full bundle of moving out, marriage, and children no longer appears among the most common life-patterns. The big takeaway from the census analysis is that economic realities—rising housing costs, debt, and material living expenses—are reshaping how young people plan their lives and what they consider achievable in their early adult years.