Here’s an article that purports that “Gen Z” is “miserable” and gives 11 reasons why.
But remember, Gen Z has an average age of 21, spanning age 13-28, as of 2025. When the media talks about Gen Z, they are typically meaning those around age 23-28, which is a subset of Gen Z.
11 Real Reasons Gen Z Is More Miserable Than All The Other Generations
- Growing up in an online “comparison culture”
- Too much screen time – always connected, sometimes required by work
- Has little financial literacy compared to earlier generations
- Feels pressure (that comparison culture) to over spend to keep up with others
- Economic instability – not having “enough money to live the life they want”
- Claims they were made “promises” that they can’t achieve – again, says Gen Z is “struggling to find a job” (even though the unemployment for young adults is lower than the historical average) and more than half of Gen Z is not even in the job market yet because they are very young. This seems to be a mismatch over having grown up in some of the best times in history – and expecting they should have it all.
- Climate anxiety – they have not yet learned that nearly all predictions of catastrophic future events made in the past turned out to not be true.
- Declining mental health – media and social media’s doomerism has taken its toll
- Social isolation – the most connected group in existence is often lacking in real world connections
- Confused about “personal identity”
- Dating app culture leads to anxiety and mental health challenges
The next article says Gen Z has been stereotyped – this is largely true of all generations too.
Are All Gen Zers Really Entitled, Lazy, and Phone-Addicted? | Psychology Today
The thrust of this article is that every generation has been stereotyped (incorrectly), and we then start viewing individuals in terms of these stereotypes.
In my experience, all of the Gen Z folks I’ve met in real life are enthusiastic, smart and hardworking. And I mean that.
But there does seem to be a cadre of Gen Z influencers who whine a lot on social media – but these are likely a tiny group of people. This small but vocal group defines the entire Gen Z group with stereotypes. and the media feeds off of social media trends.
Why we actually should worry about Gen Z
For older Americans, most of them said that they thought their parents viewed them as average. But the youngest generation rejects this view. They’re far more likely to think they are special, above average. Part of what’s going on there is that parents today are investing so many more resources in their kids. They have smaller families. And so young people as children are getting so much more parental attention and resources. It’s not as if this generation came out of the womb more narcissistic — it’s that they are being raised in homes where their needs are often put above those of the family more broadly. And so that really shifts both the function of family life, [and] how individual members see themselves in it.
But most generations of young people who, when they got their first job, were financially strapped, or were eking it by, have socialized like this. So I don’t think it’s a strong argument to sort of say, “Well, we can’t go out because it’s too expensive.” What is actually happening is people don’t want to go out because there’s this sort of pronounced feeling of risk aversion.
Millennials are richer than their boomer parents. Here’s why they love to complain anyway.
Are Generation Z Spoiled & Soft? – Inter-Generational Diversity and Inclusion Expert – Henry Rose Lee
But today’s Gen Z are complaining because they expect more
Gen Zers on average believe an annual salary of $587,797 and net worth of $9.47 million are needed when they envision “financial success.”
Dave Portnoy unloads on ‘lazy, entitled losers’ taking over the workplace
This guy (who is not Gen Z) is an idiot:
Gen Z – the generation born between 1997 and 2012 – has received a bad rap for laziness, entitlement, emotional sensitivity and poor communication skills in recent years. Since they’ve overtaken their baby boomer grandparents at the office, the changes are already showing for some of those managing them.
Again, average age 21 (range 13-28) and “they’ve overtaken their baby boomer grandparents at the office”. Bull shit. Most of Gen Z is still living at home or going to college and is not yet in the workforce.
Gen Z Is the Worst Generation to Work With – Newsweek
This is about the contradiction – Gen Z says they want “work life balance”, says the prior generations burned out – but then claims they want the benefits of working hard so they can spend money. But without working hard.
Hilarious correction to the article: “CORRECTION 06/20/24: This article was updated to clarify that Gen Z is estimated to become the largest generational cohort in the workforce by 2035, not 2024.“
Journalist’ish people still haven’t figured out that Gen Z has an average age of 21 in 2025. Journalism’ish isn’t what it once was.
11 Honest Reasons Gen Z Has Become The Poorest Generation | YourTango
Did it occur to anyone here that they are age 13-28, average age of 21?
This claim, from the article is 100% false:
- “Gen Z has become the poorest generation, harboring the most individuals and households living in poverty amid rising costs, inflationary pressures, and an unstable economy.”
The U.S. Census Bureau reports child poverty rates (under 18) are consistently higher than adult poverty rates. And since much of Gen Z are still legal children …
- Young adults (18–24) also show elevated poverty rates compared to older groups, but this has been true for every generation at that stage of life.
- Millennials in 2010 (age 15–30 then) had similar or higher poverty rates due to the Great Recession.
- Boomers in the 1970s: Many lived at home until marriage; poverty rates among young adults were high.
- Gen X in the 1990s: Faced recession and high unemployment; poverty rates among 18–24 year olds were elevated.
- Millennials in the 2000s: Entered the workforce during the Great Recession, with record youth unemployment.
- Gen Z today: Poverty rates among 18–24 year olds are not significantly higher than prior generations at the same age — but media framing makes it seem unique.
The above blames this falsely claimed high poverty as being due to not getting married (half are under age 21? Hello?)
FALSE: “Gen Z is the first generation to be almost exclusively renters, unable to save enough money to afford a down payment or invest in a home.” About 55% of Gen Z lives at home (again, average age 21 now but was 20 when this stupid article was written!), 35% rent, and the remainder have bought a place. The average age of first-time buyers has historically been about 28-30 years old – the oldest members of Gen Z are just now age 28.
After that item, I stopped reading. This author Zayda Slabbekoorn’s Profile | YourTango is one of the worst writers on this topic – she gets almost everything wrong. The article should be retracted – but Your Tango is a content mill generator.
My conclusion:
- Most of Gen Z is doing fine, is not lazy or stupid but is working hard – and faced with the same types of challenges faced by most generations at that age.
- The current housing market is messed up – but likely to see a correction. It was messed up since about 2020 onward due to incompetent public health and government policy. Fortunately, most of Gen Z is not yet in the housing market!
- The media has published a lot of untrue noise about Gen Z – reporter’ish people are too stupid to realize that half of Gen Z is age 21 or younger.
- Social media, dominated by a small group of influencers, likes to complain a lot and has painted untrue portraits of Gen Z – made numerous false claims which can’t amplified in the “like” and “share” environment. Thus, untrue things become facts!
