What Teenagers Expect in Early Adulthood

New Barna research out on teenagers expectations for early adulthood.

The eye-catching headline is the last question in the below table that says a quarter of teenagers think they will be “famous or well-known” by age 25. However I think the buried lede has to do with the questions of faith. 

WHAT TEENAGERS EXPECT OUT OF EARLY ADULTHOOD

What teenagers expect will happen in their life, by age 25
Will definitely
happen
Will definitely or
probably happen
a college degree
56%
93%
have a great-paying job
28
81
have a job where you can make a difference
24
80
a close, personal relationship with God
39
72
traveled to other countries
27
71
actively involved in a church or faith community
29
63
married
12
58
regularly serving the poor
7
48
have children
9
40
be famous or well-known
7
26


Source: The Barna Group, YouthPollSM

 

The exodus of young adults is something I have seen and published studies have supported. Interesting to have these stats though and that a strong majority plan on being involved in a church or faith community, and nearly three-quarters intend to have a personal relationship with God.

Within the evangelical culture I grew up and remain in having a personal relationship with God was and is one of, if not the, the primary things communicated. It seems that we have succeed in communicating the importance of this along with church attendance to young people, but I am not hopeful that once this group will buck the trend of young people leaving the church.

So what’s the problem?

I think the church has not lived up to their expectations. Right or wrong they have been let down somewhere between middle school and young adulthood. Something happened and the church was seen as the cause.

Particularly interested in hearing from you Youth Pastors, what do you see in this data?

July 24, 2012 in Challenging with 2 Comments

About Josh: Josh is a Rookie Pastor who works for a local church that he loves. He coordinates local lunch meet-ups with other Rookie Pastors in the Indianapolis area and loves to connect with other Rookie Pastors on and off line. It is his hope that Rookie Pastor will contribute to the health, longevity, and effectiveness of church leaders.

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2 Responses to “What Teenagers Expect in Early Adulthood”

  1. Scott Perkins July 31, 2012 at 10:47 am #

    I’d be interested in the source of the sample. But very interesting the ways that teenagers define success.

    Reply
    • Josh July 31, 2012 at 12:24 pm #

      The data is from Barna and the link to the original article is the hyperlinked text below the table of data. You may be able to find out more about the exact sample group via that.

      Reply

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