Should I risk it?
 

I’m booking a flight for next month so options are very limited. My best bet right now, my flight there looks good, however my flight home has a one hour layover in Newark. The issue is, it says the flight to Newark is often delayed 30+ mins. But it also says this for my flight home. The flight is also late and I’m assuming the last flight of the day. I would be traveling alone and I’m only 18, so technically I can’t book a hotel on my own. I’m sure the airline would accommodate me if I was in a bad situation but I really don’t wanna deal with that. Should I risk it and hope they’re both delayed or not delayed at all?

Asking the question means you already know that the answer is "no."

The airline will not typically accommodate you if something goes wrong, so I think you are mistaken there. I would not chance a one-hour connection at EWR except on a fully domestic itinerary that keeps you in the same terminal (i.e., does not require you to go through security), but you'll need to have a contingency plan if something goes wrong.

Is this a domestic flight (only traveling within the USA)? If so, and you are probably OK if you are just walking gate to gate on one ticket and with the same airline.

Or are you landing from an international destination? - which would mean you have to clear Immigrations & Customs and it's definitely not enough time to do that.

You can get a hotel room at SOME hotels if you are 18. Check into it. (Under 18 is very different.) At worst, call a hotel front desk near EWR, if you say had a likely hotel picked out where you'd stay.

SOMETIMES airlines do pick up a hotel for you if you are delayed. Depends on the reason for the delay. Just a few years ago, our Southwest flight was diverted due to a mechanical problem, and we had to land in Denver for an hour and continue on. Because of this, I missed my connection. Southwest put me up at a hotel at the connecting city without any argument. In most other cases, the airline will at least offer you a big discount (even for weather delays) for a hotel if you miss a connection.

If you don't urgently need to get home that day, I'd risk it personally - better to have a good chance to get home if that's your best flight choice. If you miss the connection, not the end of the world! You're young, you can manage. ;-)