Adolescence was formerly considered to end at the age of 19 but according to new research, scientists are saying that it now ends at 24.

In the paper, published in the Lancet Child & Adolescent Health journal, researchers found that the typical period of adolescence (from age 10 to age 19) wasn’t sufficient. They wrote that increasing the age to end at 24 years old “corresponds more closely to adolescent growth and popular understandings of this life phase.” They explain that this is due to our generation reaching adult milestones like completing university education, marriage and parenthood later in life.

Look, it makes a lot of sense.

Rethinking Adulting

When we talk about adolescence, we mean the period in which a child goes through puberty and develops into an adult. It encompasses not just biological changes but social changes too. When adolescence was considered to end at the age of 19, it meant that we were expected to take on the responsibilities of adulthood from the age of 20.

So when we all freak out about how difficult it is to adult and we have no idea how to do it, this research just proves we’re not meant to know. Hopefully, this finding will take a little bit of pressure off. As the paper notes, “An expanded and more inclusive definition of adolescence is essential for developmentally appropriate framing of laws, social policies, and service systems.”

It’s a nice little reminder that our feelings of confusion and uncertainty are totally normal well into our mid-20s. We’re not adults yet, we’re tiny adolescent babies trying to figure it all out. Thanks, science!

(Lead image: Girls/HBO)