Milestones no longer the norm

File photo / Bay of Plenty Times.

Shakespeare wouldn't know what to think: the seven ages of man he immortalised in verse over four centuries ago are no more.

What with twentysomethings clinging to adolescence and sixtysomethings refusing to move gracefully to pensioner status, the new ages look very different from even a generation ago.

The changes, in which women have delayed motherhood and men have postponed leaving home, have prompted sociologists to draw up a new adulthood timetable - provided they make it: increasingly, it seems, people jump from childhood to kidulthood and progress no further.

A United States-based developmental psychologist, who is leading efforts to analyse the new age groups, believes the twenties - which once saw adults married and saddled with a family before even reaching the halfway mark - should be viewed as the new life stage of "emerging adulthood".

Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, a professor of psychology, thinks hitting 20 is no longer the gateway to becoming an adult, but is the start of a further 10-year journey to reaching that milestone.

"I realised twentysomethings didn't fit into any of the traditional life stages," Arnett said.

"They were clearly different from adolescents, but they were not young adults either; they were somewhere in between. "Emerging adults are still making lots of changes, to their jobs, their love partners, where they live, and who with.

"They are not young adults because they have not yet settled into a stable path."

Delaying adulthood has had a knock-on effect on other milestones, with 50 being declared the new 40, and 60 the new 50.

Frank Furedi, professor of sociology at the University of Kent, blamed the prolongation of adolescence on a lack of "cultural affirmation" for adulthood.

"The attributes of adulthood are no longer seen as a status symbol because adults try to escape from their own adulthood and become kids. All culture is youth culture," he said.

"There are now books on quarter-life crises. When there's no valuation of adult status, then it's not surprising that it's not something people are anxious to achieve."

As life expectancy rises, delaying the task of growing up might appear a win-win situation.

But there is a downside. "Infantilising young people has made them insecure. They are scared of relationships because they have an existential insecurity about becoming close."

The New Ages of Man:

Men: 20s
Keith Robertson
Kitchen porter, 24, from Bristol

Keith earns about £13,000 ($27,746) a year and rents a flat with his girlfriend. His father, Lesley, 56, earns about £16,000 a year as a warehouse worker. He has remarried and owns a three-bed house.

"I never had a clear map of what I really wanted to do."

What did your father do in his twenties?

"My parents were married by their twenties. My dad was a carpenter before working in a jewellery shop. My mum worked in a chemist and they lived in a flat. A real difference between the generations is education. My parents just worked and that's what was expected. Another point is family. Some don't bother with kids at all now; my parents had seven."

Women: 20s
Clare Waddell
Student, 20, from Liverpool

Clare is single and lives with her mother, Carol, 48, who is a fulltime carer for her parents. Carol owns her terrace house.

"I study English at John Moores University in Liverpool. I would like to teach."

What did your mother do in her twenties?

"I think my mum met my dad when she was 20 and she had me when she was about 28. She worked as a receptionist at Johnsons the cleaners. She quit when she had me.

Men: 30s
Justin Harper-Ronald
Call-centre worker, 31, from London

Justin is a former soldier and an architecture graduate. He earns about £14,000 ($29,800) a year and rents a flat. He has a long-term partner. His father, Ian, 66, is a pensioner and lives in Portsmouth. He and his wife own their home.

"I left the Army at 24, for health reasons. In 2003, I decided on a complete change and studied architecture at university. I finished in May and I'm looking for work."

What did your father do in his thirties?

"My dad married my mother in his early thirties. My mum had four kids from a previous marriage. I'm looking to settle down with my girlfriend, but around this time my dad was taking on four kids. They had two further kids."

Women: 30s
Katharine Sanderson
Science journalist, 35, from Hereford

Katharine earns about £35,000 ($74,500)a year and lives with her boyfriend's parents. Her mum, Eileen, 63, is retired. She and her husband own their home.

"I did a degree at Imperial College and a chemistry PhD at Cambridge. I think I lived a different life to my parents, simply because I could. I was never told to get married or have children and I've never felt they were disappointed in anything I did."

What did your mother do in her thirties?

"I was six when she was 35 and a mum with two children. On paper she was just a housewife, but she was doing lots. She taught at my primary school. She had a husband, a house and children. I have none of those things."

Men: 40s
Neil Townend
Company MD, 46, from Cheltenham

Neil earns £40,000 to £50,000 ($85,000 - $100,000) a year and rents in the country with his girlfriend. His father, Alan, 74, is retired. He is married and has a house in Cheltenham and in Spain.

"I run my own business. My girlfriend is younger than me - she's 26 and so I have to make sure I can keep up. I've travelled quite a bit."

What did your father do in his forties?

"My dad also ran his own business. His social activities revolved around drinking, gambling or golf. I learned to cook after my divorce, I don't think dad ever cooked."

Women: 40s
Karen Espley
Business consultant, 47, from London

Karen is self-employed and earns about £55,000 to £70,000 ($120,000 - $150,000) a year. She is divorced and owns her own flat in London. Her mother, Hilda, 68, is retired and lives with her husband in the house they own in West Sussex.

"I recently joined a software testing consultancy as a director. We have always lived an active life. I lived in Hong Kong for six years before leaving home, and I sail, paint in oils, and do a lot of skiing, mainly in Europe."

What did your mother do in her forties?

"She was what you might call a classic corporate wife. She got married at 24, and we lived in Ireland, Malta and Hong Kong. She was what people expected a woman to be back then."

Men: 50s
Richard Hunt
Company secretary, 58, from Portsmouth

Richard earns £40,000 ($85,000). He is married and owns his own house. His father died two years ago, aged 84.

"I have been doing this for 23 years now. With the recession I'm just trying to survive and hope for a decent retirement. I went to Surrey University."

What did your father do in his fifties?

"We had a family business that went bust in the recession of the 1980s. It was started in 1825. My dad got taken on by another company. He had an OK retirement when he did eventually retire on a state pension."

Women: 50s
Helen Fellows
Retired, 52, from Portsmouth

Helen lives in her own house in Portsmouth. Her mother is dead.

"About six months ago I took early retirement from IBM and spent last summer working as a windsurfing instructor. I was married but my husband died about 20 years ago. My life would have been very different if that hadn't happened."

What did your mother do in her fifties?

"My mother stopped work as soon as she got married. Some time in her fifties, my mum returned to part-time factory work.

Men: 60s
Charlie Pottins
Retired, 67, from west London

Charlie lives in sheltered housing on his state pension and his NHS pension. His father, Dave, is dead.

"I used to work as a storekeeper in a hospital in south London. I have been politically active since I was a teenager. I spend a lot of time writing my blog or discussing on Facebook. Facebook is great for networking."

What did your father do in his sixties?

"He retired with a Post Office pension and an Army pension. He took early retirement but started work again soon after. Both my parents left school at 12 and started working."

Women: 60s
Ulla Kite
Teacher, 63, from south London
Ulla is widowed and owns her home. Her mother, Marlis Rolfe, is dead.

"I was born in 1947, in Germany, and now I teach at a private school. I travel a lot; I've just came back from China. My late husband, Christopher, played the harpsichord, as do I, and I also play the cello."

What did your mother do in her sixties?

"My mother never really worked after having children. She was a private secretary before she had children and worked as a nanny.

- INDEPENDENT