Mary Martin’s Peter Pan sang about perpetual youth, boldly shouting, “I’ll never grow up, never grow up, never grow up. Not me! Not I!” seemingly speaking for our kids today. Makes one wonder: “Will they ever grow up?”

Adulting actually became Grammar Girl’s 2014 Word of the Year and used, especially by Millennials—the largest living population on the planet according to the U.S. Census Bureau—to indicate when they’d completed an adult, grown-up activity, like doing laundry or paying bills.

Now comes this August Ipsos Poll of what America’s 18 and older set consider adult activities:

• 65%: Paying own bills
• 46%: Having full-time jobs
• 42%: Not living in parent’s home
• 33% Doing your own laundry
• 31%: Having own health insurance
• 26%: Scheduling an annual physical
• 18%: Contributing to a 401(k)
• 14%: Getting COVID-19 vaccine

Tells a lot, not just about them–and the folks who raised them, too.

Meanwhile, an August NBC News/Generation Lab poll of 1,108 2- and 4-year college freshman found that:

• 93% trust their parents; 66% trust local officials; 64% trust local police; and 55% trust elected state officials.
• 48% trust President Biden; 43% trust Congress; and 36% trust the national news media.
• 42% disapprove of the job Biden is doing, including 12% who strongly disapprove.
• 70% hold a negative view of former President Trump.
• 74% believe abortion should be legal in all/most cases; 27% say it should be illegal in all/most cases.
• 60% believe a person’s gender can differ from their sex at birth.
• 79% believe America is racist; of those, 22% said “totally racist, 57% said “somewhat racist,” and
  think that should be taught in elementary school, with 27% saying middle school.
• 92% are optimistic about their personal lives, with 28% saying “super optimistic.”
• 92% think they’ll get the job they want after graduating.
• 88% definitely/probably plan to marry, and about 80% expect to have children.
• 48% are optimistic about the United States; 60% are optimistic about the world.
• 62% experienced anxiety in the last year, with 47% saying they experienced depression.

Plus, 22% are NOT vaccinated, mostly because they fear side effects, saying it’s too untested, OR they’re just not all that worried about COVID.

~ With thanks, Carol