Now it's official - 30 really is the new 20
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BAD news for parents everywhere - 30 is the new 20.
Children are now staying at home longer, with dependency on parents stretching well in the 20s.
US psychologist Prof Jeffrey Jensen Arnett told an audience at Trinity College last night that the extended period of dependency has been dubbed "emerging adulthood''.
Whereas before, children used their 20s as a transition into adulthood, having a family and financial independence, now they are using the time to explore what they want to do with their lives.
Prof Arnett said "emerging adulthood'' was "a period in which many different potential futures remain possible and personal freedom and exploration are higher for most people than at any other time".
Last night, he delivered the annual lecture in Trinity's Children's Research Centre.
In the US, the children in their 20s have been dubbed "generation Y''.
The most recent statistics in Ireland show the age of getting married to have increased over the last quarter century.
In 1980, the average age of a bride was 24, which rose to 28 in 1996. In 2005 however, this stood at 31.
Prof Sheila Greene , director of the Children's Research Centre, said the traditional assumptions need to be overhauled.
