Young adult

In medicine and the social sciences, a young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence, sometimes with some overlap. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages of human development significantly influencing the definition of the term. The United States Census Bureau, for instance, defines young adults as those between the ages of 18 and 34. Over 65 million Americans born approximately from 1991 to 2008, would likely fall under this category. The young adult stage in human development precedes middle adulthood. It is typically followed by middle adulthood, which is often associated with stability in career and relationships.

Erikson described this stage as focused on the development of intimate relationships and personal identity. Legal developments also show evolving views on young adulthood, with some court rulings considering the developmental stages of individuals under the age of 21 in sentencing decisions. Some developmental researchers describe young adult as an "emerging adulthood" stage between adolescence and full adulthood, characterized by continued brain maturation into the early 30s. This period imposes many challenges in the health and well being, as well as psychological development of humans.

The brain was thought to finish developing around age 25, though recent studies suggest this extends into the early 30s. Neuroscientific research indicates that the prefrontal cortex, which is associated with executive function and decision-making, continues to mature through adolescence and into early adulthood.

Young adults tend to have a lower voter turnout than people of middle age or old age. This pattern has been observed across multiple countries and is linked to differences in political engagement and life circumstances.

The phrase "young adult" is also frequently used to market young adult novels to readers in the literary industry of young adult literature. These are books targeted at children down to ages 13 or 14. This broad extension of young adult to minors has been disputed, as they are not considered adults by the law or in most cultures, outside of religion (such as the Bar or Bat Mitzvah in Judaism), and the tradition of biological adulthood beginning at puberty has become archaic.