How did children and young adults growing up feel like or become “adults” and independent back in the days when way more people were living in generational housing and homes?
I know it’s a wordy question but I have been wondering about this for the past few months. Before the 1950s and even before the Industrial Revolution, (when families and peoples of all types were living with large families and generations under one roof), how did those children, teens, young adults, and adults into their mid 30s feel like they were progressing and becoming more mature and more like responsible adults in and part of a community? I myself am almost 29 and have been living all my life in the same bedroom I grew up in with my family. More and more people my age and generation are living at home with family and feel stagnant and like over grown teenagers more than adults capable of lives. However, for most of human history, living in the same house with family for years and years was by far the norm. So how did those young people back then grow and develop in things such as dating, identity, personal freedoms, independence, personal choices, and becoming a wholly fledged human with fully fledged lives?