For several years, I have been warning audiences that America now faces a generation of young people unwilling to grow up, assume adult responsibility, marry, and start raising families. I have addressed this issue in various articles, public lectures, and church settings. My observations have been drawn from constant contact with young adults, including college students, and are backed up by a wealth of demographic and statistical information. Nevertheless, my warnings have often been met with incredulity, suspicion, and even outrage.

Now, TIME magazine has come out with a cover story that announces this new social phenomenon. It's about time.

According to TIME's January 24, 2005 cover story, the "twixters" are young adults who simply won't grow up. TIME's investigative report and analysis offer considerable insight and first-person accounts of this new social phenomenon. Beyond this, the article offers substantial confirmation of the basic issues at stake and what it would take to reverse this trend.

Lev Grossman, the main writer of TIME's article, explains that the "twixters" are "not kids anymore, but they're not adults either." He begins his article by introducing six young adults--all young Chicagoans in their twenties--who "go out three nights a week, sometimes more." They have each held several jobs since college (one is now on her 17th). These unsettled young adults don't own homes, change apartments almost as frequently as their wardrobe, and are, for all appearances, permanent adolescents.

Needless to say, none of them are married, and none have children. Grossman correctly observes, "Thirty years ago, people like Michele, Ellen, Nathan, Corinne, Marcus and Jennie didn't exist, statistically speaking." Just thirty years ago, the median age of marriage for American women was 21. Motherhood came only a year later, statistically speaking. Women now marry at a median age of 25--the same median age for first childbirth.

The phenomenon of delayed adulthood is already producing profound social consequences. Economists are concerned about the financial implications of young adults who return to live with their parents and put off major investments like the purchase of a home until well into their thirties. Social scientists are tracking the effects of delayed marriage and the social dislocation common to this age group. Like most demographic trends, this new pattern of life is not likely to be reversed anytime soon, at least in society at large.

Grossman provides interesting insights into this generational phenomenon as he focuses on several twenty-somethings who fit the pattern. Matt Swann, 27, took 6.5 years to graduate from the University of Georgia with a degree in "Cognitive Science." Like many in his generation, he chose his major based upon interest, with little attention to job prospects.

Swann's extended college experience is now the norm. According to data provided by colleges and universities, the average college student is now taking at least five years to finish a baccalaureate degree. Once the degree is in hand, these graduates do not necessarily move on to a stable job related to their academic pursuits. Many of these young people enter the job market in order to "find themselves" and follow their own personal interests.