Thirtysomething and Contemporary Adulthood

Abstract

This chapter explores the concept of thirtysomething which constructs the marker of a transition within adulthood and has become a new social identity which expresses a concept of youthfulness within the context of ageing. The chapter begins with where the concept of thirtysomething came from, and then moves on to demonstrate the idea in practice, drawing on empirical research into the late boomer population in Britain. As explained in the Introduction, the research found both the specificity of the experience to a particular age group who claimed this as a generational event, and more generally how the concept became established with a wider meaning, to refer to adults constructed as youthfully rather than properly or authentically middle aged. The chapter argues that the concept of generation (Mannheim 1952) has been overlooked in theorising experiences of the lifecourse, and can be usefully brought back into play to understand not only the constructions of thirtysomething, but offer more general insights into identities of ageing.