Coming of age
In the United States, teenagers are allowed to drive at 16 in all states except New Jersey, which requires drivers to be 17 and older, and sometimes receive the responsibility of owning their own car. Teenagers may drive at age 15 in Idaho and Montana. At 16, teenagers are also old enough to donate blood and work in most establishments. At 18 one is legally considered an adult and can vote and join the military. The legal age for purchasing and consuming alcohol and recreational marijuana, the latter of which is only legal in the District of Columbia, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Nevada, and Alaska, is 21. The legal age for purchasing and consuming tobacco products is 18 in most states; 19 in Alabama, Alaska and Utah; and 21 in California, New Jersey, Oregon, Hawaii and Maine. Multiple localities have also raised the minimum purchase age independent of state laws.
Stage-crisis view
Levinson believed that by the mid-forties, it is generally established that one is a full generation ahead of the younger adults, thus formally encompassing them in the "middle-aged" society. Unlike the previous stages however, Levinson believed that the onset and duration of the following eras are determined by significant events such as retirement, disease states, and various physical changes. Levinson believed that a person should be finished with their midlife transition tasks around age 45, at which point new developmental tasks arise. Levinson argued that the difference between the midlife transition and the middle adulthood stage can be seen in small changes, including changed family relationships and changes in work life that may make work seem either oppressive or satisfying. According to Levinson's research, there are distinct periods in middle adulthood, including the Age Fifty Transition, occurring from age 50 to 55. Levinson describes this period as when a person can continue to work on the tasks from their midlife transition and amend the life structure that they built in their forties. A crisis can occur in this stage for those who did not change enough during their midlife transition and have a dissatisfying life structure. Next, from roughly age 55 to 60, a person's task is to build what Levinson called a "second middle adult structure", which allows a person to complete middle adulthood. This stable period of time is intended to be fulfilling, since it can be spent rejuvenating and enhancing oneself and one's life. Toward the end middle adulthood however, physical and mental changes become more prominent, as does the reality of retirement. Although experienced at different times and to various extents, these events trigger the reality that one is entering old age and thus becoming a senior member.