11 Things People Had Easy Access To Growing Up That Are Now Considered Major Luxuries
Prostock-studio | Shutterstock As adults, with many responsibilities, jobs, and obligations to balance, we often crave the innocence of our childhood. The free time after school or the easy access to connection living with our families at home — these are the things people had easy access to growing up that are now considered major luxuries in adulthood. Of course, these happy memories and experiences contribute positively to our adult lives, but that doesn't mean we don't miss them.
Sometimes, reconnecting with our childhood identities and routines in this way can actually help us to carve out more space for them as adults. No matter how silly or "immature" they seem, connecting with your inner child as an adult can reduce stress and offer space to heal, even if you didn't have the "perfect" childhood.
Here are 11 things people had easy access to growing up that are now considered major luxuries
1. Free time
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According to sociologist John P. Robinson, Americans are spending more time working and less time sleeping during their leisure time than in other countries. Whether it's out of necessity with economic burdens or out of guilt in our "hustle culture," free time — true "free" time without expectations or obligations — is one of the things we had easy access to as kids that now feels like a major luxury.
Now, adults are struggling with guilt over basic necessities like rest so, of course, carving out leisure time for hobbies and connection feels impossible.
2. Connection with family members
On top of rising rates of parental estrangement and disconnection between family members, it's no surprise that feeling isolated from the connection of family members is a common experience for many adults today. While these family ties later in life are more nuanced than they seem on the surface, connected bonds often feel like a luxury to the ones we shared as kids.
Studies also show that adults with worsened family ties often feel more loneliness and struggle with more mental health issues than their well-connected counterparts. It's one of the things we had easy access to as kids, living in the same homes or cities as our parents and families, that now feels like a luxury we're missing out on.
3. 'Playing' outside
Adults often benefit most from spending time outside and connecting with nature in their everyday lives — from physical well-being to mental health — yet they often struggle to make the time and space to craft habits that allow it. When they are spending time outside, there's always some kind of structure or expectation driving their actions, like walking in a park or working out.
However, "playing" or running around outside after school with friends had no structure. There was a level of innocence and "play" to a child's relationship with nature that now feels like a major luxury to many adults today.
4. Neighborhood friendships
Children often find it easier to make friends early in life — not only because they have built-in "third spaces," like schools and activities, to make them in, but because they're not afraid of vulnerability. They're open to nurturing closer relationships with the people around them, largely because they're all going through the same things at the same time.
However, after school, college, and that strange period of young adulthood where everyone's doing the same things, adults struggle with making friendships. They're comparing themselves to other people online and focusing so heavily on their own routines that the connection feels impossible.
That's why neighborhood friendships, built out of proximity and a sense of inevitability, are one of the things people had easy access to growing up that now are considered major luxuries to adults struggling with isolation and loneliness.
5. Time passing slowly
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According to psychologist Steve Taylor, time often feels like it's moving faster when we're adults, largely because of changes in information processing and a lack of new experiences. As adults, our routines often push away novelty and newness that we have higher access to as children, encouraging us to perceive time passing at faster rates.
Now, this perception of time passing slowly is a major luxury that's only available to adults who have the time and money to spend cultivating novelty in their routines. It's the adults who have the time and money for vacations, travel, and newness that likely perceive time passing similarly to their children, while others are stuck in a productivity loop where they feel like they're working away their lives.
6. Childhood independence
As an adult, independence can often feel like a burden or an obligation, rather than an autonomous, exciting experience. As kids, we were often awarded independence in running errands by ourselves, spending time alone at home, or engaging in unsupervised activities with friends outside.
But now, this kind of independence — with an aura of freedom and excitement — can feel like a major luxury. Especially with many adults struggling to achieve financial independence and others being thrust into adult issues without much support, it's the innocence behind our childhood independence that many people crave.
7. Long breaks from school
Whether it was time off around the holidays or a long summer break without many obligations, these are some of the things people had easy access to growing up that are now considered major luxuries.
Despite the benefits that come from long breaks like this, especially for adults with a million obligations, American adults are taking less and less time off from work every single year compared to other countries. From struggling to secure jobs with paid time off to feeling guilted into leaving their sick time in the company bank, it's no surprise that time off — especially to this extent — is now a luxury that only the wealthiest people can afford.
8. Having a caretaker
While everyone's childhood experiences are different, and some kids were parentified from a young age into caring for themselves, for the most part, having a built-in caretaker as a parent at home is something that we had early access to growing up that is now considered a major luxury.
Now, the role of "caretaker" seems to be a burden for many adults — caring for adult children or their aging parents — that's defined by burnout, emotional exhaustion, and unpaid labor. Even when it comes to hiring a "caretaker" for your home to deal with childcare and administrative work, it's an expense that only the most wealthy adults can afford to spend on.
9. Boredom without guilt
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According to an EMBO Reports study, children obviously have more boredom than their adult counterparts because of routines, but also because of their natural disposition toward idleness. They can enjoy boredom and work through it without the guilt we often take on as adults when pushed toward busyness and productivity.
This kind of boredom without expectations is something that people had easy access to growing up — that's now considered a major luxury. We yearn for free time and alone time without a schedule, but for many, especially those struggling financially and working multiple jobs, that time is infused with a desire to always be "doing" more.
10. Education
Outside of major literacy crises and educational opportunity gaps affecting adults across the United States, educational spaces are less common for adults in general. It's one of the things that people had easy access to growing up — in classrooms and after-school programs — that are now considered major luxuries for adults.
People with the money and time to spend going back to school in a traditional way have some level of access. Still, for others, working multiple jobs and struggling with bills, there's an insurmountable barrier to education.
11. Community
Whether it was the hallways at school or public library events for kids, community is one of the things people had easy access to growing up that are now considered major luxuries. We don't have the same kinds of extracurricular activities and unpaid opportunities to meet new friends as adults as kids did at a young age, at least without a price tag.
According to a Health & Place study, the closure of many "third spaces" across the nation is largely responsible for this lack of community for adults. They're not only losing access to helpful goods and services, but also spaces to connect with people and form new relationships.
Zayda Slabbekoorn is a senior editorial strategist with a bachelor's degree in social relations & policy and gender studies who focuses on psychology, relationships, self-help, and human interest stories.
