‘Adulting’ is a key concept in millennials today. It’s all about growing up, and maturity, but younger generations are finding it harder to do.

Older generations attribute it to laziness and entitlement, but the circumstances don’t agree:

• 58% of millennials can’t afford major medical emergencies
• 76% are paying for rent and mortgage
• average student debt is around $33,000 per student as four years of college has gotten 68% more expensive since the academic year 1999-2000
• 19% of millennials are juggling two or more jobs—beating the statistics of other generations

So when millennials say, “Adulting is hard,” they mean it.

Surprisingly, millennials are self-aware enough to recognise they need to know how to tackle this problem—so much so that UC Berkeley has a class for it with 30 students enrolled. This generation has recognised that aside from learning math, science, and literature, practical life skills are far more crucial. They need to know how to survive interviews, deal with conflicts, manage relationships, finance, etc.

Because they’re struggling to make ends meet, millennials have forged a new definition of what it’s like to become an adult. According to a study, there are 40 factors that millennials consider as “a milestone for maturity.”

A stable job

For millennials, it doesn’t always mean a steady 9-to-5 job. Whether it’s work-from-home or office-based, millennials need financial stability to pay for bills, rent, and debts as this generation highlights financial independence. This is first on the list.

Being independent

A lot of the factors boil down to one thing: independence. These are the top two to five signs of adulting:

• financial independence
• Paying a bill on your own
• Paying rent/mortgage on your own
• Paying for your car on your own

It’s all about being “on your own”. For a lot of people–not just millennials–being an adult means being able to stand on your own two feet and survive. No matter how older generations think that millennials aren’t wired the same, they are wrong.

Practicality in financial decisions

Millennials find it mature when they choose to spend on necessities rather than leisure. They’re practical this way: they spend 4.6 hours to research before buying something. They wait for a sale before buying what they want because 63% of a millennial budget goes to necessities.

Moving in with a significant other

A lot goes into moving in and settling down with the love of your life. You have to decide if you want an apartment downtown or if you need to look out for lands for sale in Wyndham Vale. You need to work around each other’s idiosyncracies, some you probably never knew existed.

Drinking moderately

Gone are the Project X dreams of partying. The juvenile drinking games and chugging bottles and bottles of alcohol are over. Adulting is knowing too much drinking is not cheap and an unnecessary expense.

Economic changes haven’t been good for millennials. They’re working multiple jobs, drowning in debt, and enjoying less leisure. What makes them feel mature may look different compared to older generations as their priorities have shifted due to their circumstances.