Forget about age compression; what about age expansion?

For years we in the toy industry have dealt with the ravages of age compression; the notion that children are getting older younger and giving up on toys. Well, there appears to be another phenomenon which has until recently been largely ignored, young adults refusing to grow up. If that's the case, shouldn't we be making toys for these people?

A New York Times article, "Long Road to Adulthood Is Growing Even Longer," puts it nicely in its opening paragraph: "Baby boomers have long been considered the generation that did not want to grow up...Now a growing body of research shows that the real Peter Pans are not the boomers, but the generations that have followed. For many, by choice or circumstance, independence no longer begins at 21."

The article goes on to tell us that men and women in their 20's and even 30's are taking longer to complete their schooling, get married and have children. "Frank F. Furstenberg, who leads the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Transitions to Adulthood stated ‘A new period of life is emerging in which young people are no longer adolescents but not yet adults.'" They are remaining at home and being supported by their parents.

H-m-m-m-m-m-m-m, is there an untapped market here? Do young adults (or are they really old children), who are unwilling or unable to leave home, want to play with toys and games? Should we making products with them in mind and /or marketing to them? It's certainly something to investigate.