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What is the average age at which Americans experience life’s most significant moments: First love, First paycheck earned, First friendship, First break-up. Buy a car
Hello! Thank you for your query regarding the average age at which Americans experience life's significant milestones. The short answer is that Americans earn their first paychecks when they are 15.5 years old and purchase their first cars when they are 18.6 years old, on average. First true friendships are formed, on average, at 4 years; first love occurs at around 17 years; and it may be estimated that first breakups occur, on average, between 18 and 19 years. Below you will find a deep dive of my findings.
METHODOLOGY
To compile this brief for you, I reviewed the results of formal polls and surveys, locating a great deal of recent data in this 2016 Harris Poll of nearly 3,000 Americans. Next, I searched extensively through scientific and academic journals to look for research regarding first friendships, first loves, and first breakups. While there have been many recent speculative reports and informal polls on the romantic subjects, I could locate no evidence-based research that has taken place during the past two years. I then cast a wider net and looked for the most recent evidence-based, scientific, and academic research published. Please note that, in terms of first loves, the only scientific research I could identify that directly discussed "first love" was published in 2004. While I have included (and noted) that data, I also looked for more recent research in related areas - such as first sexual intercourse, first kiss, and first date - and provided that, as well.
FIRST PAYCHECK EARNED
While no data directly pointed to when Americans earn their first paycheck, I made the assumption that they do so when they get their first job. The average age at which Americans get their first job is 15.5 years. (They do, however, receive money earlier than that in the form of an allowance, which they begin receiving, on average, at 11.2 years of age.)
FIRST FRIENDSHIP
American children form their first friendships when they are in preschool. Given that preschoolers are between 3 and 5 years of age, I calculated the mean from this range [3+5 / 2] to determine the average age is 4.
FIRST CAR
FIRST LOVE
According one survey of more than 1,200 adults, 75% of Americans first fall in love when they are 15 - 20 years of age. Within that range, 58% of men and 38% of women say they first fell in love when they were between 15 and 17 years of age. Additional research shows that the average age of Americans when they experience romance-related firsts are:
(*research published in 2004)
FIRST BREAKUP
While no evidence-based research exists regarding the average age that Americans experience their first breakup, I was able to estimate this by using the average age of first love and locating the average duration of adolescent relationships. Given that 17 is the approximate average age of first love, and that relationships of those aged 16 - 18 last an average of 20 months, it may be estimated that Americans are, on average, between 18 and 19 years of age when they experience their first break ups.
CONCLUSION
To wrap it up, the average age at which Americans earn their first paychecks is 15.5 years, and 18.6 years is the average age at which a first car is purchased. First true friendships are formed, on average, at 4 years; first love occurs at around 17 years; and it may be estimated that first breakups occur, on average, between 18 and 19 years.
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