Is being “a regular child” in the UK becoming a thing of the past?

I worked recently with a group of young people from New Zealand and was struck by how “age appropriate” their behaviour was. From age 8 to age 18 they acted their age.

It really highlighted how out of sync with their age most British children seem to be.

In the UK we’ve got kids of 8 that act like teenagers and teens that are often immature, struggling to bridge the gap into adult social and domestic behaviour.

I think it’s manufactured. Young adults spend the most money so there’s profit to be made by getting them there early and keeping them there as long as possible.

It also makes it easier to get them to accept “starter jobs” and “starter accomodation” for longer.