Young Adults in U.S. Fear Growing Up More Than Past Generations, Study Finds

Young adults in the U.S. are more afraid of growing up than those of past generations — but those fears are calmed over time, according to a new study published by the American Psychological Association this week.

The researchers examined data collected from college students in 1982, 1992 and 2002 that asked them how much they wanted to “return to the security of childhood” or believed the “happiest time” in life was in childhood. There were 1,200 students included in the initial assessment.

Then, they asked the same questions to the students 20 years later, in 2002, 2012 and 2022.

The participants’ answers revealed that while many Millennials feared growing up more than Gen Xers or Baby Boomers, they’ve largely come to terms with it as they aged. Millennials were the 2002 cohort, Gen Xers were 1992 and Baby Boomers were 1982.

Maturity fears decreased with age among nearly all generations and across genders, with the exception of Baby Boomer men. The researchers suggest that could be due to historical gender roles and societal pressure growing up in the 1960s and 70s.

But the observed decline was much more pronounced for younger groups, which could be because fears subside as people gain security, financial independence and agency.

“Our findings suggest that fears about growing older are not necessarily fixed; they appear to decrease for many people as they gain experience navigating adult roles and responsibilities,” April Smith, a professor at Alabama’s Auburn University, explained in a Thursday statement.

“At the same time, more recent generations of college students consistently reported higher maturity fears, which suggests that broader societal factors like economic uncertainty, social pressures and concerns about the future may be shaping how young people view adulthood,” she said.

Data on whether Millennials and younger Americans are worse off financially has been mixed.

Right now, 42 percent of Gen Zs say they’re living paycheck to paycheck, though the trend is moving in a positive direction.

Plus, the household net worth of Millennials now exceeds Baby Boomers at similar ages, a recent analysis from The Wall Street Journal shows.

But many Americans report feeling money-related stress right now and inflation in the U.S. recently hit a three-year high, according to government data.

Still, why newer generations reported higher maturity fears is a lingering question for the researchers. That’s something they want to look into further in the future.

“Our study shows that these cohort differences exist, but it doesn’t tell us exactly what’s driving them. Future research should examine the role of factors such as economic uncertainty, climate concerns, major societal disruptions like the Covid-19 pandemic and the growing influence of social media,” Smith said.

“If people perceive the future as increasingly uncertain, it would make sense that growing older might feel more daunting than it did for previous generations,” she added.