Gen Zers are unusual. Young people today are less likely to form relationships than those of yesteryear. They are more likely to be depressed or say they were assigned the wrong sex at birth. They are less likely to drink, have sex, be in a relationship—indeed to do anything exciting. Americans aged between 15 and 24 spend just 38 minutes a day socialising in person on average, down from almost an hour in the 2000s, according to official data (View Highlight)
In financial terms, Gen Z is doing extraordinarily well (View Highlight)
Youth unemployment across the rich world—at about 13%—has not been this low since 1991 (View Highlight)
The average 25-year-old Gen Zer has an annual household income of over $40,000, more than 50% above the average baby-boomer at the same age. (View Highlight)
Some Gen Zers protest, claiming that higher incomes are a mirage since they do not account for the exploding cost of college and housing. After all, global house prices are close to all-time highs, and graduates have more debt than before. In reality, though, Gen Zers are coping because they earn so much. In 2022 Americans under 25 spent 43% of their post-tax income on housing and education, including interest on debt from college—slightly below the average for under-25s from 1989 to 2019. Their home-ownership rates are higher than millennials at the same age. They also save more post-tax income than youngsters did in the 1980s and 1990s. They are, in other words, better off. (View Highlight)
A new paper published by the IMF analyses the number of hours that people say they would like to work. Not long ago young people wanted to work a lot more than older people. Now they want to work less. According to analysis by Jean Twenge of San Diego State University, the share of American 12th-graders (aged 17 or 18) who see work as a “central part of life” has dropped sharply. (View Highlight)
Today, by contrast, less than 0.5% on the Forbes list are Zoomers. Who can name a famous Gen Z startup founder? (View Highlight)