Sociologists have identified the five markers of adulthood as: finishing school, leaving home, marriage, gaining financial independence, and having kids. But repeated economic upheaval, rising debt, decreasing marriage rates, fertility treatments, and a more open-minded society have all led to a shifting timeline today. So why are we measuring 'adulthood' by the same metrics that were relied upon fifty years ago? The thirtysomethings in this book envisioned their thirties differently than how they are actually living them. And as Schaefer and her sources show, not being able to do everything isn't a sign of a life gone wrong.