Apparently it depends on skin colour and the severity of the charges. /s

For most people never.

Petulant middle-aged children as far as the eye can see with few exceptions.

Never. There is no line to cross, no milestone, nothing.

You will always be the same entity you are now. You should always work to improve yourself, but the stream of consciousness that is “you” is always going to be the same you.

Every day you wake up 1 day older and have 1 more day of accumulated experience. It’s that accumulated experience that makes people think you’re an “adult”.

If you really absolutely need to assign a binary “I’m an adult” label, I think it’s the day you realize that there is no such thing as an adult and all the people you thought were adults and therefore could handle adult responsibilities were actually just making it all up as they went, the same as you are doing right now.

Some never become adults, becoming an adult to me is self-realization. That you have the ability to think and make decisions with input on your own. That you are self-capable of change in your life. It’s accepting you have responsibilities outside of just yourself. I feel hat’s part of it.

I remember one time someone told me “being an adult is when you realise you can cook yourself bacon whenever you want, and just eat it, and nobody will stop you”.

When all your dreams are dead.

You become an adult when you wish you were young again

When I was in college (so maybe 20 or 21 years old), I asked my mom when I would start feeling like an adult. Without missing a beat, she said “I dunno. If you find out, let me know!” <3

I guess I started feeling more like a “real” adult when I started working full-time and rented a house instead of an apartment, though now even that pales in comparison to when I finally purchased my own home. Each phase of life feels more “grown-up” than the last, with new perspectives, greater understanding of my relationships with God and people, and matured confidence going into the new phase’s challenges. And yet I’m still me at heart–as I like to call it, “a big kid with bills.” I am very blessed.

I think it’s when you decide it, plenty of children walking around in grown bodies paying bills but also letting the whims of the world carry them with their current never taking a stand and steering their own lives. To be an adult is both a choice to be free from undue influence but also to be fully responsible for your own actions.

for me it was when I was responsible for more than just myself.

I’m responsible for my spouse, my kids, the team I managed, etc.

I have to say, it’s not worth it 🤣

Well, in the legal sense, I suppose it has to do with contracts and contract law. Some time ago in the US, it was determined that 18 was the legal age for adulthood because by then a person would be old enough to understand the terms of a contract and hold to those terms. Marriage is a contract. Military service is a contract. Getting a loan/mortgage is a contract.

EXACTLY MIDNIGHT LOCAL TIME ON THE CALENDAR DATE EIGHTEEN YEARS SUBSEQUENT TO THEIR BIRTH AS RECORDED ON A LEGAL BIRTH CERTIFICATE

/s

I’m lucky enough to be in my 30s and still have grandpa and his wife (my grandma by all accounts, but she doesn’t want to be called that because it makes her feel old). I was visiting with them recently and said “I still feel like a stupid teenager. I don’t feel like I’m an adult that knows what they’re doing, I’m just doing the best I can” and my 83 year old grandpa replied “sweetheart, I still feel like I’m in my 20s, I don’t think anyone ever really figures it out, no one knows how to be an adult”.

So i think the answer is: never

I’ve thought about this a lot since the prior social markers are less useful these days. For me it’s being someone who has the resources and abilities to navigate the things needed for day to day life.

When your primary concern is to help others rather than have others help you.