The survey, commissioned by the charity Eden Project Communities as part of its Big Lunch initiative, showed that 19% of 16-24 year olds, “often” or “always” feel lonely. This is three times higher than the 65-74 age group, where the figure was 6%. Only 14% of 16-24 year olds surveyed said they had never felt lonely.
Gen Z and the Loneliness Epidemic
Business Insider's research further reveals that 60% of Gen Z has felt the grip of loneliness within the past year. Additionally, an alarming 30% of young people confess they are unsure how to make new friends (Vice, 2022), heightening their feelings of isolation.
According to a Psychology Today article, the leading three reasons for Gen Z's loneliness include overstimulation, social media and a dependency shift. Overstimulation suggests we bite off more than we can chew. People are distracted by work, chores, progress, social media, and the activities of today and tomorrow.
And a survey of 600 individuals found that Gen Z is the most unhappy generation at work. Just 59% of Gen Z workers are happy, compared to 69% for Baby Boomers and 76% for Millennials and Gen X. In addition, 9% of Baby Boomers are unhappy at work, compared to 26% of Gen Z and 13% for Gen X and Millennials.
Social media and technology use are major contributors to Gen Z depression. While technology has many advantages, it can also be a source of anxiety and stress. Excessive social media use has been linked to feelings of loneliness, low self-esteem, and depression, according to research.
The entire generation has the highest rates of anxiety and depression in the history of psychology. Haidt started to see these go up around 2012 as this generation began to reach late teenage years.
e' Gen Z Workers, are actually the Happiest and Hardest Working Generation, say Researchers.
Gen Z also faces an unprecedented behavioral health crisis: US Gen Zers surveyed by McKinsey report the least positive outlook and the highest prevalence of mental illness of any generation, and European respondents report struggling with self-stigma.
Gen Z workers, aged between 18 and 26, make up about 35% of those wanting to quit, while millennials (aged 27 to 42) are another 31%.
One in four Gen Z respondents reported feeling more emotionally distressed (25 percent), almost double the levels reported by millennial and Gen X respondents (13 percent each), and more than triple the levels reported by baby boomer respondents (8 percent).
For generation Z, 73 percent of respondents said they weren't currently dating or looking for a relationship because they had more important priorities at the moment. The survey showed a generational gap in the different reasons why Americans are content with being single.
Researchers say younger generations deal with an ongoing wealth inequality. They see senior executives get bonuses and higher wages, while average worker wages remain stagnant. In a 2023 Deloitte survey, nearly half of Gen Zs and four in 10 millennials said they feel stressed all or most of the time.
In fact, Stillman's consulting firm found that 84% of Gen-Z prefers in-person communication over text or email. But most importantly, Stillman points out that Gen-Z equates Zoom and other video chats to face-to-face conversation.
Nearly a third of people between 16 and 74 years old consider themselves loners. Out of this age group, Generation Z is considered to be the loneliest generation, with a loner score 10 points higher than the Greatest Generation (least lonely).
MIAMI - A growing number of Millennial and Gen-Z women are choosing not to become parents. A 2021 Pew Research Center Survey shows 44 percent of non-parents ages 18 to 49 say it is "not too likely" or "not likely at all" that they will have children someday, up 7 percentage points from 2018's survey.
The data on stress and wellbeing are mixed. On the one hand, the Cigna study found 91% of Gen Zs reported feeling stress and 98% said they felt burned out. A study by Stress in America found 62% of women and 51% of men ages 18-34 were completely overwhelmed by stress.
Gen Alpha will be even more digital-forward
As the second digitally native generation, Gen Alpha will adopt technologies like smartphones and social media even faster than Gen Z.
Gen Zers are drinking less than young people in past generations: about 20 percent less alcohol per capita than millennials did at their age, according to a report from Berenberg Research. And many are forgoing booze entirely.
Increased awareness and destigmatization of mental health issues, which may encourage more individuals to seek help and receive a diagnosis. Increased stressors such as academic pressure, social media use and economic uncertainty, which may contribute to the development of mental health issues.
It's little wonder why: Gen Z are more likely than other generations to report that the pay they receive for their work does not afford them a good quality of life (26% compared to 20%), and 77% of them are in search of a new job (nearly double the rate of other respondents), per a McKinsey & Company report.
They're impulsive. Another weakness of Gen Z is that they can be quite impulsive. With instant gratification being so easily accessible, this generation has difficulty waiting for anything. They want what they want and they want it now!
According to Finder's Consumer Confidence Index, Gen Z saves an average of $857 per month, while millennials save $294. Gen Z also has an average of $10,062 in savings compared to $7,165 for millennials.
As generational stereotypes go, I nominate Gen X to be, without a doubt, known as "The Coolest Generation." Baby Boomers (1946 to 1964) started off on the right track with the hippie movement in the '60s, but soon became the folks that brought us the “Me Decade,” yuppies, and President Trump.
So it's no surprise recent studies have declared millennials, especially women, the most anxious generation in history. Anxiety comes in many forms, but the simplest way to describe it is feeling worried or nervous about the future or uncertain situations.
The Greatest Generation commonly refers to those Americans who were born in the 1900s through the 1920s. The Greatest Generation members all lived through the Great Depression and many of them fought in World War II.