High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Waithood (a portmanteau of "wait" and "adulthood") refers to the period of stagnation in the lives of young unemployed college graduates in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, described as "a kind of prolonged adolescence". It is a phase in which the difficulties youth face in each of these interrelated spheres of life result in a debilitating state of helplessness and dependency. Waithood can be best understood by examining outcomes and linkages across five different sectors: education, employment, housing, credit, and marriage."