The We Society S10 Ep2: What does it mean to be grown up today? with Bobby Duffy and Carey Oppenheim
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Mar 11, 2026 Carey Oppenheim, youth researcher leading the Nuffield Foundation’s Grown Up? project, and Bobby Duffy, public policy professor and author on generations, discuss changing journeys to adulthood. They explore delayed transitions, mental health and services, AI and labour shifts, co-residence with parents, and reconnecting generations to reshape policy and support for young people.
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Three Generations Of Work In One Family
- Bobby Duffy contrasts three family generations: his mother left school at 15 for factory work, he had many short low-skilled jobs, his 17-year-old daughter only sold items on Depop and Vinted.
- The contrast illustrates how work patterns and expectations have radically shifted across three lifetimes.
Align Services To Longer Transitions
- Rethink service boundaries that rigidly split help at age 18, especially for mental health where needs flow through into the 20s.
- Carey Oppenheim urges joining child and adult services to provide continuity rather than abrupt transition at 18.
Three Realities Driving Generational Difference
- Bobby Duffy frames three real realities shaping generations: economic realities, mental health realities, and delayed adulthood.
- Delayed adulthood mixes some voluntary self-exploration with widespread constraints like increased co-residence and weaker economic freedom.
