A young person's transition to adulthood is a long journey, with their 18th birthday marking just one milestone along the way. The guests of Vikerraadio program "Teise mätta otsast" agreed that a recent high school graduate certainly does not consider themselves an adult overnight. "I'm 27. I'm an adult in the eyes of the law, but I still believe I have a great deal to learn and that all of us have a lot left to do and experience," Vahi said.

The younger generation has to contend with both an abundance of choices and a constantly changing labor market. "This is just my assessment, but I do feel that Generation Z is one of the first generations for whom, on the one hand, all the doors are open. At the same time, there are so many doors that we can get lost trying to choose between them," Vahi said. This constant pressure takes a toll on young people. While short-term pressure can even help people make good decisions, the constant expectation that they become adults overnight is not healthy, Vahi said.

In the eyes of the law, turning 18 brings full legal capacity and responsibility for one's actions. Ethnologists Arnold van Gennep and Victor Turner, however, have described such transitions between stages of life as a gradual process. They call this liminality or a transitional period. "You're no longer someone who has to ask your parents for permission to go to a friend's house, a concert or simply out on the street. But you're not yet an adult whom we could describe as mature," Kutsar explained.

Today, emerging adulthood often lasts until the late 20s. One of the most difficult challenges on the path to adulthood is achieving financial independence. Living independently requires an income. "Under the law, they are still a member of their parents' household and the parents are responsible for making sure they have money and can get by," Kutsar said.

Getting it wrong at first is necessary

As noted, today's abundance of information presents young people with a dizzying array of options. According to Cathy Vivien Vahi, they feel pressure to choose the right field of study immediately. Since not everyone knows how to make that choice right away, some young people take a gap year to put off the decision. "You don't have to make the perfect choice. You can learn throughout your life and you should learn throughout your life. Making one choice at first and then changing it when you realize it isn't right for you is very, very welcome," Vahi said.

Young people's choices about what to study are also clouded by the digital environment and the example set by their peers. "You see that someone went to study something and they're doing well because they only show the good side on social media. That creates a lot of pressure," Vahi added.

According to Dagmar Kutsar, it is important for young people to take risks and not be afraid to make mistakes. Academic literature uses the term yo-yo effect to describe what happens during a person's 20s. At this age, life can resemble a yo-yo moving up and down, with people frequently changing where they live, their relationships and short-term jobs. "On the one hand, this causes stress, anxiety and uncertainty about the future. On the other hand, every experience provides some new insight or gives new meaning to things," Kutsar said.

Young people want to work

Living independently requires young people to develop both academic and everyday skills. For example, a young person may have to learn to share a dorm room with a stranger or live under the same roof as a friend, as well as, figuratively speaking, how to boil an egg. Necessity forces young people to learn quickly. "Having a safety net provided by your parents is really nice. At the same time, it can very quickly become limiting. If you stay in that comfort zone for too long, you don't get the chance to develop certain social skills," Cathy Vivien Vahi warned.

When it comes to work and study skills, Estonia's education system gives students a strong academic foundation, but practical life experience is often gained outside the classroom. Later on, even students who excelled at school may struggle to present their strengths in the labor market. "A young person may not realize that they should take stock of all their skills, knowledge and the important things they've done. They might think, 'Oh, what does it matter that I sold apples by the side of the road as a kid?' But why shouldn't it matter?" Dagmar Kutsar said.

In her work, Vahi sees strong interest among young people in Estonia in gaining their first work experience. A summer recruitment campaign by the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund revealed overwhelming interest among minors in entering the workforce. "We had 650 minors apply for summer jobs in three days and nearly 50 of them got jobs. It shows that they want to work and are making an effort," Vahi recalled.

The high number of applicants demonstrates young people's willingness to work, but they are often met with a lukewarm response. Employers are reluctant to hire young people with no experience. Kutsar said the situation is concerning. "Young people have an enormous desire to work, yet society does nothing to meet them halfway when they make that first attempt. That shouldn't happen," she said.

But how is the rapid development of artificial intelligence affecting young people's entry into the workforce? According to Vahi, technology itself does not cause layoffs. "AI doesn't directly take anyone's job away. It makes work easier for those who know how to use it. At the same time, it makes it harder for those who don't yet know how to use it to get their foot in the door," Vahi said.

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