> Used to be, someone who was 16 was considered a (young) Adult, ready to live on their own, start a family, be responsible for themselves and others. Now that point is at least a decade later.
Where on Earth do you live?
Afaik most people would probably call a 16yo a 'young adult' even if the bar is technically at 18. The 18yo is certainly ready for all that (as far as desire/affordability takes them anyway), and the 16yo too with parental permission.
What 25yo is not ready to live on their own, or start a family, for any reason other than money (or that isn't going to go away at 26)?
Certainly if you want to go back younger teens were married off etc. (Juliet of Romeo & being an oft-cited example) but I don't recognise where or when this 16 to 26 year old shift supposedly happened.
Your history knowledge isn't great if his statement seems outrageous to you. Having babies at 16 was far, far more common just 50 years ago in all of the western world.
The answer to "where" this shift happened is "in the entire 'developed' world", and the answer to "when" is of course not a single point of time, but you can observe the graphs to find the derivatives.
Where on Earth do you live?
Afaik most people would probably call a 16yo a 'young adult' even if the bar is technically at 18. The 18yo is certainly ready for all that (as far as desire/affordability takes them anyway), and the 16yo too with parental permission.
What 25yo is not ready to live on their own, or start a family, for any reason other than money (or that isn't going to go away at 26)?
Certainly if you want to go back younger teens were married off etc. (Juliet of Romeo & being an oft-cited example) but I don't recognise where or when this 16 to 26 year old shift supposedly happened.