age of 18. It is, therefore, considered inappropriate to call young adults 'adolescents' or 'late adolescents'. Furthermore, in the United States, the age of 18 is the age at which people are able to legally vote and citizens are granted full rights upon turning 21 years of age. According to Arnett, the term "young adulthood" suggests that adulthood has already been reached, however most people in the emerging adulthood stage no longer consider themselves adolescents, but do not see themselves entirely as adults either. In the past, milestones such as finishing secondary school, finding a job, and marrying clearly marked the entrance to adulthood. However, in modern, post-industrialized nations, as positions requiring a college degree have become more common and the average age of marriage has become older, the length of time between leaving adolescence and reaching these milestones has been extended, delaying the age at which many young people fully enter adulthood. If the years 18–25 are classified as "young adulthood", Arnett believes it is then difficult to find an appropriate term for the thirties. Emerging adults are still in the process of obtaining an education, are unmarried, and are childless. By age thirty, most of these individuals do see themselves as adults, based on the belief that they have more fully formed "individualistic qualities of character" such as self-responsibility, financial independence, and independence in decision-making. Arnett suggests that many of the individualistic characteristics associated with adult status correlate to, but are not dependent upon, the role responsibilities associated with a career, marriage, and/or parenthood. Exploration of identity One of the most important features of emerging adulthood is that this age period allows for exploration in love, work, and worldviews, also known as the volitional years. The process of identity formation emerges in adolescence but mostly takes place in emerging adulthood. This stage in life allows young individuals to develop characteristics that will help them become self-sufficient, engage in mature committed relationships, and obtain a level of education and training that will set them up for work during the adult years. Regarding love, although adolescents in the United States usually begin dating between ages 12 and 14, they usually view this dating as recreational. It is not until emerging adulthood that identity formation in love becomes more serious. Emerging adults are considering their own developing identities as a reference point for a lifetime relationship partner, so they explore romantically