In a cafe in central Athens, Maria sits facing her laptop, with a coffee that has already gone cold next to her. As a freelancer in advertising, she works endless hours, chasing deadlines and salaries that are never enough to cover her real needs. “I don’t have my own house, nor a steady salary, and yet I am considered [an] independent [adult]. How is that possible?” she asks herself. She is 32 years old and her formal coming of age in 2011 coincided with Greece’s deep 10-year economic crisis. Now, in her fourth decade of life, she is trying to balance expectations with reality. The word that could describe Maria, but also a large part of today’s Greek 30-somethings, is “almost”: almost financially independent, almost sure of their future and almost adults.
Parameters of adulthood
Evangelia Galanaki, professor of psychology and director of the Psychology Laboratory in the Primary Education Department of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (EKPA), explains. “According to our research data, ‘adulthood’ for young people in Greece means that the individual possesses mental traits and moral qualities, such as responsibility, autonomous decision-making, control of emotions, compliance with the laws of society and concern for others.”
‘Young Greeks tend to consider that all the traditional and tangible milestones of adulthood are part and parcel of financial independence’
However, in Greece, adulthood also has another parameter: financial independence. “Young Greeks tend, more than their peers in other countries – mainly Western ones – to consider that all the traditional and tangible milestones of adulthood are part and parcel of financial independence: completing their education, living independently, working full-time, buying a house, getting married and having a child,” she adds.
In Greece, however, according to Eurostat, the average age for leaving one’s parental home is 30.6 years, while the European average is 26.3. Young Greeks’ desire for independence clashes with the housing crisis in large cities, where rental rates are increasing dramatically, while short-term rentals have made the dream of an affordable apartment, at least in the center of Athens or Thessaloniki, seem unattainable. If we add job insecurity, the economic consequences of the “gig economy” – seasonal work, fixed-term contracts, and undeclared work – we realize that the problem is intensifying, often acquiring psychological implications.
According to Merck’s 2024 “Future Barometer” survey, 63% of young Greeks often or very often experience physical or emotional discomfort, while the corresponding European average is 52%. “In our research, those young people who faced greater financial hardship and anxiety about it compared to others tended to stagnate on their path to adulthood, while presenting a profile of delinquency. Specifically, they were more likely to experience difficulties in exploring and conquering their identity.”
What does it really mean to be 30 in Greece?
For today’s 30-somethings, adulthood feels like a perpetual dialogue between “shoulds” and “wants.” Against a backdrop of economic insecurity and social change, this generation is being asked to redefine what it means to “grow up” – and perhaps that in itself is a step toward maturity.
Pericles, who just turned 35, works for a multinational company and has recently felt financially independent, as he no longer relies on his parents’ help to “make ends meet.”
“My father, at my age, already had two children, had built a house and was pouring concrete for a summer house. If I get my own apartment then I might say I’ve truly grown up. At the moment, I’m saving up money to take a trip to Latin America,” he tells Kathimerini. Although this generation struggles with economic difficulties, social expectations, and a job market that often does not meet their needs, this reality also brings with it a sense of liberation. The typical milestones of adulthood – marriage, starting a family, acquiring a home – are no longer self-evident, but choices that go through a more personal redefinition of priorities. For Pericles, starting a family is a distant plan, which does not concern him today.
The choice not to have a family or children is not only linked to financial woes, but also to their personal priorities. Katerina, 34, has lived alone since she was 18. “I am not interested in having a family or children, at least not at this point. I want to focus on my career and my personal interests,” she explains. For her, adulthood is the gradual process of recognizing your needs and desires, but also being able to satisfy them. “Self-protection, that is the word I would choose for adulthood. At a younger age, I let everyone influence me, especially my employers. Now I know how to protect my mental health,” she adds. Her approach is particularly interesting, especially when one considers that according to research by EY Greece, Hellas EAP and the Experimental Psychology Laboratory of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, younger employees are the ones who present higher levels of anxiety, depression, somatization, loneliness and anger than their older colleagues, while they also exhibit lower levels of quality of personal and professional life.
‘Legal versus social’
Christos sees adulthood differently. At 37, he says that “legal adulthood and social adulthood are very far apart.” Although he gained the right to vote about two decades ago, until recently he had no idea how to cook anything more complex than a plate of spaghetti. “I didn’t even need to. I lived in a loft above my parents’ house for seven years. I had a hard time detaching myself, both practically and emotionally, from the security of my family,” he says. The decision to leave his parents’ house was not an easy one, but he felt he had to take this step. He now lives with his partner, but he is not considering a further “commitment.”
Anastasia, on the other hand, has adapted her ambitions to the circumstances of the time. “When I was 18, I couldn’t wait for my 20s to be over so I could finally have a good job, my own house with a big balcony in the center of Athens, and of course a car. I’m 30 years old, I rent, but I go to the supermarket on a weekly basis. I prefer a full refrigerator to the expense of a car. You can’t have both,” she tells Kathimerini. “We [30-year-olds] have no purchasing power, most of my friends’ agendas don’t include starting a family, and I think very few work at something they actually enjoy. On second thought, though, maybe adulthood isn’t about achieving these traditional goals, but about accepting that growing up can mean something different to everyone.”