You Don’t Need to Live Alone to Become an Adult
Recently, someone I’m close to made a confession: He felt embarrassed to still be living with roommates in his early 30s. I assured him that was absurd, but given that I also live with two of my friends, I knew what he meant; I’ve noticed the same societal clock ticking, and I’m a few years younger. I don’t feel pressure to find a spouse or start a family—my social circle is filled with single people, the prospect of homeownership seems laughable, and I can’t keep a spider plant alive, much less a human baby. But I have watched as more and more of my peers start to rent their own apartments. So I search for studios online, balk at the prices, and shut the tab. Over the course of the 20th century, solo living grew significantly more common for Americans. In 1940, only about 8 percent of households in the U.S. had just one person in them; by 2020, that number had risen to nearly 28 percent. And the trend is growing fastest among young …
