A new report has revealed that the new age at which one can be considered an adult in Kenya is 24.
The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health Journal, 2018, attributed the shift of adolescence age from 19 to 24 years old to societal and lifestyle changes.
According to the report, youth in Kenya are taking longer to gain financial independence, therefore, the delay in moving out of home.
Further, the report outlines the millennials are taking longer to get into marriage leading to what the researchers have termed "extended dependency".
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The journal further recommended that the adolescent age bracket ought to be broken down into three groups to assist in health research and implementation.
"To support evidence-based interventions and policies that meet the health needs of adolescents and young people, we propose adolescence be categorised into three age groups and descriptors—young (10–14 years), middle (15–19 years), and late (20–24 years) adolescence—rather than just a single, very broad age band," the report notes.
University of Nairobi (UoN) Sociology and Social Work lecturer James Kariuki agreed with the report on account that the material gains were a major contributing factor to the apparent "delay in growing up".
"Becoming an adult is heavily dependent on an individual being linked to the cash economy, either through a job or business.
"Having economic power means that one is able to take certain responsibilities that define adulthood such as getting a residence of their own and taking care of personal bills. But the concern should not be age, rather, the responsibilities that go with this," he advised.
Dr Kariuki further argued that there is a definite age for the start of adolescence but there is no age that officially marks the beginning of adulthood.
"There is no age called adulthood. Adolescence is a bridge between childhood and adulthood.
[caption caption="File image of President Uhuru Kenyatta with a youth dance group"]
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"And while the beginning of adolescence is quite clear, the end of adolescence is very blurry and the age differs from one individual to another," the expert stated.
He added that parenting styles may have a bearing on the shift especially due to the occurrence that most parents nowadays opt to have few children.
"These days many families have just two or three children. Such parents have the tendency to want to keep their children at home for a longer period, but there are also children who fear responsibilities and will want to cling to their parents for as long as possible," he stated.
