Like their parents, Gen Z has also got tougher skins than millennials. While nearly one in four millennials say they might leave their current job in the next two years because they don’t feel appreciated, only 15% of Generation Z cited that reason, a recent Deloitte survey found.
Generation Z is also more financially literate at a much younger age than previous generations—lessons likely instilled by their Generation X parents, many of whom grew savvier when they had their careers derailed by the Great Recession.
Typically, the older a person gets, the more likely they are to say they’ve got a good grip on their finances. But CivicScience found that younger Gen Zs—those under 18—actually saw themselves as more fiscally responsible than their peers aged 18 to 24, as well as millennials. Generation Z is also more likely than millennials to save a good chunk of their income, and the most likely to enjoy using budgeting apps like Mint and Acorns.
That desire for financial security has prompted Gen Z to try and avoid incurring debt whenever possible—40% of those aged 18 to 22 have no debt at all, according to a separate survey conducted by pollster Morning Consult. They own fewer credit cards and are instead using debit more often, even if they have to use payment plans or rent stuff—clothes, furniture, gadgets, even car-sharing—rather than own it outright.
Gen Z’s more cautious nature manifests itself in other ways, too: They’re not a wild bunch. Bryan Gildenberg, the chief knowledge officer at Kantar Consulting, quips that Generation Z is a “very old group of young people.” They drink less, take fewer drugs (except for pot, which they don’t view as harmful) and have less sex. Again, there are parallels here with their Generation X parents, many of whom saw sex and drugs as dangerous due to the AIDS epidemic and Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” campaign.
For all their caution, Generation Z does have an entrepreneurial streak. Nearly three out of four high school students say they want to start their own business someday, according to Millennial Branding, a research and consulting firm. Maybe that drive was also passed down from Generation X, whose ranks include Elon Musk and Michael Dell.
And although Gen X didn’t agree on everything (The Cure or The Smiths? Nirvana or Pearl Jam?), in recent years they’ve rallied around one defining idea: Baby boomers are a bunch of self-indulgent narcissists, and their helicopter parenting transformed their millennial kids into entitled mini-mes. Generation X parents have purposefully tried to raise a different kind of kid, influenced by their own upbringing.
“Boomers really wanted it to be easier for their children, and they succeeded,” said Dorsey, the Gen Z consultant. “When we interview Gen X, they tell us they don’t want our kids to end up like entitled millennials.”
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.