Is Gen Z struggling financially?
Gen Zers are having a harder time making ends meet, let alone building wealth. Roughly 38% of Generation Z adults and millennials believe they face more difficulty feeling financially secure than their parents did at the same age, largely due to the economy, according to a recent Bankrate report.
In many ways, Gen Zers are better off than their parents were 30 years ago, but fewer are financially independent — here's why. Compared with their parents at this age, today's young adults are more likely to have a college degree and work full time, according to a recent report by the Pew Research Center.
Gen Z faces unique financial challenges compared to older generations. College graduates earn 10% less compared to their parents, recent research found.
Gen-Z Faces Financial Challenges, Stress, Anxiety And An Uncertain Future. Senior Contributor. I write actionable interview, career and salary advice. Gen-Z feels substantial anxiety and stress about jobs, long-term financial stability and major life steps, such as buying a home and starting a family.
Instead, they're grappling with alarming rates of loneliness, depression and suicidal thoughts. Zoom in: Partly by choice and partly out of necessity during the pandemic, Gen Z socializes online, rather than in person, far more than previous generations. That's not healthy, experts say.
However, over the next twenty years, Millennials are poised to inherit some $90 trillion of assets and become the richest generation in history – but only the ones who already come from affluent families, potentially deepening wealth inequality further.
They struggle with comparing themselves to others on social media, they're regularly exposed to negative news, and they're living paycheck to paycheck. Even though Gen Z might think that the future will be a disaster, it is important to remember that everything gets better eventually.
Generation Z
Thus, those in Gen Z are currently between the ages of about 11 and 26. As might be expected due to their relatively young ages, data shows that Generation Z demonstrates the lowest level of financial literacy among Gen Z, Gen X, boomers and millennials.
The study's Gen Z respondents reported an obsession with being rich at 44 percent, while millennials were just a tad more likely to be obsessed at 46 percent. This is compared to just 27 percent of the larger American population obsessed with being rich.
Gen Z has experienced higher poverty rates than millennials, Gen Xers and baby boomers, according to the KIDS COUNT Data Center, but Gen Alpha is the poorest generation to date.
Is Gen Z financially literate?
Financial literacy tends to be low within each of the five generations, but particularly so among Gen Z. Two-thirds of Gen Z could answer only 50% or less of the index questions correctly.
It is a known fact that lifespan increases with each generation. For baby boomers, the average life expectancy is 70 years, for Gen X its 85, and newer generations like Gen Z and Alpha will likely exceed the 100-year mark.
However, Gen Z has certain weaknesses. They have a rather indifferent attitude towards security and prioritize convenience over security . They also experience a low perceived behavioral control and lack education on how to behave securely online .
There is no shortage of potential culprits: the cost of living crisis, the Covid lockdowns, the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, the long-term effects of austerity, the climate crisis, pressure in schools, prejudice against minorities, the rise of social media and smartphones, the evaporating high street and the growing ...
This belief stems from a variety of factors, but a major reason is the current job market. Minimum wage is largely stuck at the same as it was 13 years ago and Gen Zers don't believe the pay they get for the work they do allows them a good quality of life, the McKinsey study cites.
Calling the findings about the emotional struggles of Generation Z young adults "alarming," the researchers said 29% of them reported experiencing depression, versus 15% of teens; 36% of young adults reported anxiety, compared to 18% of teens.
The highest average American net worth belongs to those aged 65 to 74 at $1,794,600. Americans 55 to 64 years old have the second-highest average net worth at $1,566,900.
Gen Z are primarily the children of Generation X. Their Generation X parents raised Gen Z to be independent and able to figure things out for themselves.
A staggering 75% of Gen Z high-net-worth individuals expect to see their wealth increase in 2024. Of that group, 43% even expect to see "significant growth." What's more, Gen Zers aren't just feeling confident about their financial game in 2024—they stand out as the most self-assured generation of all.
The way Gen Z differs from older generations is in their capacity to be self-aware about their mental health issues. The ability to take care of another human being while the majority of us can barely take care of ourselves plays a big part in the decision not to have a child.
Is Gen Z overworked?
A recent health survey from Cigna revealed that Gen Z workers are the most stressed out demographic . Twenty-three percent of young workers say they are dealing with "unmanageable stress," and 48% said they felt drained (compared to just 40% of their older colleagues).
A growing discourse suggests that Generation Z (Gen Z) is endowed with higher cognitive abilities compared to their predecessors, the Millennials.
Gen Zers are having a harder time making ends meet, let alone building wealth. Roughly 38% of Generation Z adults and millennials believe they face more difficulty feeling financially secure than their parents did at the same age, largely due to the economy, according to a recent Bankrate report.
They're saving earlier than generations before them, making long-term money goals, and becoming financially independent sooner. While still having big career aspirations, they're more conscious about making sure to find a job soon after college to avoid the burden of student loan debt.
The report found that millennials had substantially higher diagnoses for eight of the top 10 health conditions than Generation X, and based on their current health status, millennials are more likely to be less healthy when they're older, compared to Gen Xers.
