Should The Age of Adulthood In America Be Changed

Here is my bottom line up front: Raising the age of majority from 18 (in most states) to 22 is a counter-productive solution to the job scarcity problem you have defined. The age of majority is defined based upon emotional and physical maturity associated with becoming an adult. At that age, most legal rights associated with adulthood are granted. The age of majority is completely independent of (and irrelevant to) the economic conditions facing the workforce. Have millennials become less mature physically? Have millennials become less mature emotionally? Snark and generational jibes aside, the answer is no. An 18 year old millennial is no less mature than an 18 year old Generation Xer, and 18 year old Baby Boomer, or an 18 year old Silent or an 18 year old GI generation. It's what the generations have done SINCE they turned 18 that have defined them. These are the securities gained by being a minor: (http://thelawdictionary.org...) - A minor (juvenile or child) is under the protection of parents for the necessities of food, clothing and shelter. - Parents are held legally responsible for damage caused by a minor. - A minor is not responsible for gambling losses. - The parents are the legal and financial guardians of the juvenile. These are the rights you will strip from adults aged 18-21 by moving the age: - You can enter into contracts because they are now legally binding. - Unrestricted driving privileges (prohibited passengers, restricted to time of day) - When you turn 18, your juvenile record can be sealed. - you can legally marry - you can sign a tax form and employment contract. (Hold a real job, get an apartment, purchase real estate, establish checking/savings and investment account) - Register for selective service and join the military - Purchase tobacco products in 46 states. Many of the rights you strip from someone aged 18-21 will actually hurt their ability to become employed: Restricted driving privileges, juvenile record available for background searches, inability to sign tax and employment contracts, bank accounts and investments, military service. All of these rights significantly INCREASE the employability of the 18-21 year old work force. Yet you propose to strip these rights to make the parents legally liable. It would be every single parent's nightmare to send their children off to college in some other state knowing that they were still legally liable for the actions of their kid out there drinking and partying. (shudder) But the reasoning above is that it would benefit millennials who could not find employment, currently. I take no issue with challenges young adults between 18-22 face in the current job market. No experience, no education, no job. Tales as old as time. These are the recessions since the Great Depression: (https://nber.org...) Aug 1929 " Mar 1933 May 1937 " June 1938 Feb 1945 " Oct 1945 Nov 1948 " Oct 1949 Jul 1953 " May 1954 Aug 1957 " Apr 1958 Apr 1960 " Feb 1961 Dec 1969 " Nov 1970 Nov 1973 " Mar 1975 Jan 1980 " Jul 1980 Jul 1981 " Nov 1982 Jul 1990 " Mar 1991 Mar 2001 " Nov 2001 Dec 2007 " Jun 2009 It would be illogical to assert that the age of majority should fluctuate with this much frequency. It is also illogical to propose a change now when nearly every person working, outside of the millennials who lack perspective, have either entered a workforce during a recession or felt the job loss because of one. Yet you propose the age of majority should be moved because the current generation entering the workforce is struggling. No, no. I don't play into the "Entitled" or "Coddled" stereotype. I won't go there. I think millennials have an opportunity for great changes to the world. But frankly, asking to legally move the age of adulthood and burden parents further because the job market is tough, it plays right into that wheelhouse.