ABSTRACT
Where is the best place in the world to be entering adulthood today? Resoundingly and indisputably, the answer is Europe. The European continent is the setting for the most affluent and healthy societies in human history (Rifkin, 2004). In the Human Development Index compiled yearly by the United Nations, an annual rating of countries worldwide on a combined measure of health, education, and wealth, European countries dominate the top of the list: 6 of the top 10 countries, and 11 of the top 20 (United Nations Development Programme, 2014). Although European countries vary widely, most provide a range of tertiary education options at little or no cost to emerging adults or their families. Emerging adulthood lasts a long time in Europe, not only because more young Europeans pursue tertiary education than ever before but because the ages of entering marriage and parenthood are at least 30 across countries, and still rising (Moreno Minguez et al., 2012). During their emerging adulthood, most young Europeans thoroughly enjoy their freedoms and the pleasures of living in an affluent, peaceful, well-ordered society (Douglass, 2005, 2007).
