The young adulthood trap: Neither in education nor in employment, so where are they?

"The silent collapse of a society is hidden in noiseless waiting.

Today, millions of young people between the ages of 15 and 34 are considered neither children nor adults; they are just waiting. But for what, no one knows."

A NEW STATE OF QUASI-CITIZENSHIP

They are not adolescents. They are not considered adults either. A generation that is unemployed but educated, homeless but renting, free but still living with their families: Young Adults. This gray zone, covering ages 15 to 34, possesses neither the innocence of childhood nor the responsibilities of adulthood. They are a new species invented by the system: people who are developing but cannot reach their potential.

IF "ADOLESCENCE" WAS INVENTED, WHY NOT "YOUNG ADULTHOOD"?

The Industrial Revolution took children from the fields and put them in school. We invented a period called "adolescence." Because children could no longer work, but they were not quite considered adults yet. A transition period was necessary.

Today, we are at a similar threshold. University graduates cannot find jobs, cannot set up homes, cannot have children. In other words, life is being postponed. American psychologist Jeffrey Arnett called this phase "emerging adulthood." It was translated into Turkish as "gelişen yetişkinlik" or "genç yetişkinlik." But here, young people give it another name: Life on hold.

WHAT DO THE NUMBERS SAY?

6.7 million young people between the ages of 15-34 are neither in education nor in employment.

Total population in this age group: 24.2 million

Approximately 28 out of every 100 young people are neither in education nor in employment.

Number of young people struggling with student loan (KYK) debt: 5.2 million

Average age of marriage: 25.6 for women, 28.1 for men (TÜİK)

More than half of university graduates over the age of 25 are either unemployed or working outside their field.

Average rent cost for a young person living alone in Istanbul: 19,000 TL, net minimum wage: 22,000 TL

In this picture, young people are losing not only their future but also their present. There is no school, no work... No direction, no hope. Just a cycle: waiting, postponing, uncertainty.

WHERE IS THE WORLD HEADING?

In Spain, 57% of university-graduate youth still live with their families.

In Japan, these young people are called "parasite singles."

In the USA, this period is called a "quarter-life crisis."

All over the world, this new period is defined by uncertainty and loneliness. But in Turkey, this situation is different: Young people are becoming alienated not only from the system but also from the very feeling of a future.

NEITHER IN EDUCATION NOR IN EMPLOYMENT, SO WHERE ARE THEY?

Young adulthood may not just be a state of victimhood, but also a sum of choices. They neither want to take responsibility at home nor join the struggle at work. They are neither satisfied with their parents' rules nor brave enough to pay the rent for their own homes. A kind of "comfortable uncertainty": They want freedom but do not want to leave their comfort zones.

They say, "I want to choose my own life," but they still want their parents to deal with everything they do not want to choose.

For some, young adulthood is like an extended version of adolescence: a generation that wakes up at 11 a.m., cannot mingle with people before having their coffee, and whose contact with real life is limited to a screen. A youth not ready to shoulder the burden of life but always ready to complain.

And yes, for some, this period is not a form of resistance, but an escape. A way of distancing themselves from responsibilities toward society, family, and even themselves. They do not fight with life; they settle for staying outside of life and criticizing it.

WOMEN ARE EXCLUDED TWICE: BY AGE AND BY GENDER

The majority of the 6.7 million NEET (neither in education nor in employment) youth in Turkey are women. 40.2% of women between the ages of 15–34, meaning 4 out of every 10 young women, are neither in school nor at work. This rate exceeds 50% especially among women aged 30–34.

In other words, the system excludes not only young people but also women twice: both because of their age and their gender. These women, who are confined to domestic roles and become invisible in the labor market, spend their youth "outside of social life."

HELICOPTER PARENTS: ADULTHOOD THAT IS NOT ALLOWED TO BE FREE

It would be unfair to place this crisis solely on the shoulders of young people. However, ignoring the role of parents is also insincere. In Turkey, families make their children dependent under the guise of "protection." Overly attentive, overly directive, overly self-sacrificing... but at the same time, hindering development.

When young adults want to take a step, most of the time these steps are stopped first by the mother's anxiety, then by the father's intervention.

A childhood where decisions are made for them, a youth where they are worried about for them, a life postponed for them...

This concept of helicopter parenting is born not from love, but from a desire for control. A mother who still gives an allowance to her 27-year-old son is not maintaining his economic freedom, but his psychological dependence. A father who gives advice to his 30-year-old daughter at every step is not serving her conflict with life, but her passive compliance.

Yet, sometimes allowing a person to make their own mistakes is the greatest form of guidance.

IDENTITY, UNCERTAINTY, AND THE NOMADIC SPIRIT

Young adults are no longer people who "have a job," "have a home," or "have established a routine." They try to build their identities not at work, but on social media; their sense of belonging not in the family, but in digital communities. One day an intern, one day unemployed, one day freelance... Even they cannot define who they are. Because the system does not recognize them.

SO WHAT IS THE SOLUTION?

This crisis is not solved by individual development, but by structural transformation. Young people need rights, not patience.

Proposed Solutions:

1. The right to public housing

2. Youth allowance / basic income applications

3. Job security and the prevention of intern exploitation

4. Forgiveness of student loan (KYK) debts

5. Psychosocial support and youth centers

The state should take responsibility not to prepare young people for life, but to build life together with them.

THIS IS NOT A PERIOD, THIS IS A TRAP

These young people are neither children nor adults. But for the system, they are "voters," "customers," and "followers." They are given advertisements, not rights. Their voices are not heard because their expectations are constantly postponed.

But let us not forget:

If these young people are not included in life today, we will become a society pushed out of life tomorrow.

And if this youth, waiting for their turn to take the stage, is not noticed before the lights go out, they will turn into a ghost representing the past, not the future.

Because this crisis is growing not only in the youth; but in the system that cannot hold them, the family that does not let them go, and the self that does not dare to walk.

ACTIVIST ERKAN ERDEM