How each generation defines adulthood!

LONDON, England (PNN) - August 4, 2019 - A new survey of 2,000 Amerikans asked people to pinpoint the moment they felt fully like a grown-up adult, and their answers revealed some amusing key differences between generations and genders.

Realizing you’re in charge of your own life occurs early on with the sudden realization that, like Jerry Seinfeld, you can eat cereal whenever you want. However, realizing you are an adult most often occurs when a person deals with finances on his own.

The survey, conducted by OnePoll in conjunction with Farm Rich, examined the mindset and process of transforming into a fully-fledged adult, otherwise known as “adulting”.

All of the top five signs of adulting are related to money. Having a budget is the number one answer indicating when someone’s reached adulthood (55%), followed closely by filing your own taxes (52%).

A quarter of those surveyed started to save money like an adult, too, by using coupons for the first time.

In sixth place is doing your own laundry. (Beware: every adult learns in the beginning how to turn all their whites red, and how horrifying it is to pull your favorite sweater out of the dryer, when suddenly it can only fit a 3-year-old.)

More than a third of respondents said adulting involves scheduling regular doctor and dental appointments, and making a list to take to the grocery store.

No one surveyed thinks that just because you’re an adult you should be eating all kale salads and almonds. Over half of Millennials and Gen-Xers pointed out that eating snacks for dinner is an indication that you have officially reached adulthood, and 33% of older Baby Boomers eat comfort foods whenever they want, as a way to handle stress.

Both Millennials and Baby Boomers believe that having vegetables and coffee in the house are important if you want to call yourself an adult, and 22% said you should be taking something out of the freezer to defrost ahead of time.

No matter what generation, the poll found that everyone indulges in comfort foods from their youth - the top 5 being pizza, spaghetti, hot dogs, mac and cheese, and a grilled cheese sandwich - with Millennials more likely to reach for the chicken nuggets, compared to just 20% of older folks.

Millennials seem to put more pressure on themselves to reach adulthood. According to the survey, after age 26 Millennials believe it becomes embarrassing if you are not a full-fledged adult. Surprisingly, Baby Boomers were more forgiving and named age 31 as the cut-off.

Perhaps not surprisingly, there is a difference between men and women in their 20s: the average man considered himself to be an adult at age 26, while women identified as adults three years earlier, at age 23, according to the survey.

Though independence is the top perk of adulthood, it does create some stress. Both Millennials and Gen Zers named stress as their least favorite part of adulthood.

43% of Millennials turn to video games to forget their adult responsibilities.