Globally, the transition to adulthood has changed dramatically since the 1950s due to:

The transition to adulthood has changed dramatically since the 1950s because it now takes much longer to secure a full-time job that pays enough to support a family. This can be explained by the increasing proportion of young adults who go to college and graduate school, increasing cost of housing and also by the postponement of marriage and childbearing.

The transition to adulthood has changed dramatically since the 1950s due to individualistic culture. The "new adulthood" is the results of a society prioritizing and emphasizing the individual's idea of adulthood over the society's "standards". The culture fosters the idea of independence rather than identifying with a group.