Most Americans believe someone isn't grown up until age 26, probably with a completed education, a full-time job, a family to support and financial independence, a survey said.

一項調查顯示，大多數美國人認為人要到26歲——屆時你也許已經完成學業，找到了一份全職工作，支撐一個家庭，實現經濟獨立——才算長大。

But they also believe that becoming an official grown-up is a process that takes five years from about the age of 20, concluded the report from the University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center. The findings were based on a representative sample of 1,398 people over age 18.

芝加哥大學全國意見研究中心的報告指出，人們同時也認為，正式成人的過程開始于20歲左右，需要五年時間才能完成。研究人員選取了1,398個18歲以上的人作為代表性樣本進行研究。

The poll found the following ages at which people expect the transitions to grown-up status to be completed: Age 20.9 self-supporting; 21.1 no longer living with parents; 21.2 full-time job; 22.3 education complete; 24.5 being able to support a family financially; 25.7 married; and 26.2 having a child.

調查顯示，人們預計會在以下年齡實現成年過程中的各個轉變——20.9歲：自立；21.1歲：與父母分居；21.2歲：找到全職工作；22.3歲：完成學業；24.5歲：具備養家糊口的能力；25.7歲：結婚；26.2歲：生子。

"There is a large degree of consensus across social groups on the relative importance of the seven transitions," said Tom Smith, director of the survey. The only notable pattern of differences is on views about supporting a family, having a child and getting married. "Older adults and the widowed and married rate these as more important than younger adults and the never-married do," he added. "This probably reflects in large part a shift in values across generations away from traditional family values."

主持調查的湯姆?史密斯說：“對于這七個轉變的相對重要性，社會各階層的人的意見相當一致。”唯一顯著不同的是人們對養家、生子和結婚的看法。“年長一些的人、已婚及喪偶者比青年和未婚者更看重這些，”史密斯補充道，“這也許在很大程度上反映了代際之間傳統家庭價值觀念的轉變。”

The most valued step toward reaching adulthood, the survey found, was completing an education, followed by full-time employment, supporting a family, financial independence, living independently of parents, marriage and parenthood.

調查發現，在人們心目中，邁向成年最重要的步驟是完成學業，其后依次為找到全職工作、養家、經濟獨立、與父母分居、成家及為人父母。

（來源：新浪教育 中山大學通訊員陳萌供稿 英語點津 Annabel 編輯）

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