Illustrations by May van Millingen

In Western society today there is no denying that following the economic crash of 2008 and its continued after-effects it takes a little longer to reach the heady heights of what is traditionally recognised as adulthood.

Perpetuating their years of youth has become a priority for many in their early twenties and thirties. A couple of decades ago the average age of your nightclub attendee would be considerably lower than it is today. Responsibilities like relieving the babysitter of their duties or getting up early for work in the morning are less present. Now they have the time to continue exploring hedonistic pursuits in a way their parents probably didn’t.

Now milestones such as graduating from school or university, finding a paying job, buying a home, getting married and having children are, for various reasons, a little harder to achieve. With the rising cost of education in the UK and US, a scarcity of well-paid work, fiercer competition, increasing house prices and more liberal sexual attitudes, it is taking millennials longer to become adults.