Most Americans believe someone isn't grown up until age 26, probably with a completed education, a full-time¹ job, a family to support and financial independence, a survey said.

一项调查显示，大多数美国人认为人要到26岁——届时你也许已经完成学业，找到了一份全职工作，支撑一个家庭，实现经济独立——才算长大。

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.

芝加哥大学全国意见研究中心的报告指出，人们同时也认为，正式成人的过程开始于20岁左右，需要五年时间才能完成。研究人员选取了1,398个18岁以上的人作为代表性样本进行研究。

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.

调查显示，人们预计会在以下年龄实现成年过程中的各个转变——20.9岁：自立；21.1岁：与父母分居；21.2岁：找到全职工作；22.3岁：完成学业；24.5岁：具备养家糊口的能力；25.7岁：结婚；26.2岁：生子。

"There is a large degree of consensus² 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."

主持调查的汤姆•史密斯说：“对于这七个转变的相对重要性，社会各阶层的人的意见相当一致。”唯一显著不同的是人们对养家、生子和结婚的看法。“年长一些的人、已婚及丧偶者比青年和未婚者更看重这些，”史密斯补充道，“这也许在很大程度上反映了代际之间传统家庭价值观念的转变。”

The most valued step toward reaching adulthood³, the survey found, was completing an education, followed by full-time employment, supporting a family, financial independence, living independently of parents, marriage and parenthood.

调查发现，在人们心目中，迈向成年最重要的步骤是完成学业，其后依次为找到全职工作、养家、经济独立、与父母分居、成家及为人父母。