On the Cusp of Adulthood and Facing an Uncertain Time to come: What We Know Almost Gen Z So Far

One-in-10 eligible voters in the 2020 electorate will be part of a new generation of Americans – Generation Z. Born after 1996, near members of this generation are non nonetheless old enough to vote, but as the oldest among them plough 23 this year, roughly 24 1000000 will have the opportunity to bandage a ballot in November. And their political clout will continue to grow steadily in the coming years, as more and more than of them accomplish voting age.

The generations defined

Dissimilar the Millennials – who came of age during the Great Recession – this new generation was in line to inherit a strong economy with record-low unemployment. That has all changed now, as COVID-nineteen has reshaped the country's social, political and economic landscape. Instead of looking ahead to a globe of opportunities, Gen Z at present peers into an uncertain future.

At that place are already signs that the oldest Gen Zers have been particularly difficult hit in the early weeks and months of the coronavirus crunch. In a March 2020 Pew Inquiry Middle survey, one-half of the oldest Gen Zers (ages xviii to 23) reported that they or someone in their household had lost a job or taken a cutting in pay because of the outbreak. This was significantly higher than the shares of Millennials (40%), Gen Xers (36%) and Baby Boomers (25%) who said the same. In addition, an analysis of jobs data showed that young workers were specially vulnerable to chore loss before the coronavirus outbreak, equally they were overrepresented in loftier-risk service sector industries.

Indiana University students movement out of student housing due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Jeremy Hogan/Echoes Wire/Barcroft Media via Getty Images)

Aside from the unique set of circumstances in which Gen Z is approaching adulthood, what do nosotros know virtually this new generation? Nosotros know it's unlike from previous generations in some of import ways, but like in many ways to the Millennial generation that came earlier it. Members of Gen Z are more racially and ethnically diverse than whatsoever previous generation, and they are on track to be the well-nigh well-educated generation yet. They are likewise digital natives who have little or no retentiveness of the world every bit it existed before smartphones.

Still, when information technology comes to their views on fundamental social and policy bug, they look very much similar Millennials. Pew Research Center surveys conducted in the autumn of 2018 (more than a year earlier the coronavirus outbreak) among Americans ages 13 and older found that, similar to Millennials, Gen Zers are progressive and pro-regime, nigh see the country's growing racial and ethnic diversity equally a good affair, and they're less probable than older generations to meet the United States as superior to other nations.ane

A look at how Gen Z voters view the Trump presidency provides further insight into their political beliefs. A Pew Research Centre survey conducted in January of this year found that about a quarter of registered voters ages xviii to 23 (22%) approved of how Donald Trump is treatment his job every bit president, while about three-quarters disapproved (77%). Millennial voters were but slightly more than likely to approve of Trump (32%) while 42% of Gen X voters, 48% of Baby Boomers and 57% of those in the Silent Generation approved of the task he's doing as president.

Gen Z is more than racially and ethnically diverse than previous generations

Generation Z represents the leading border of the state's irresolute racial and ethnic makeup. A blank majority (52%) are non-Hispanic white – significantly smaller than the share of Millennials who were non-Hispanic white in 2002 (61%). One-in-4 Gen Zers are Hispanic, 14% are black, 6% are Asian and 5% are some other race or ii or more races.

One-in-four members of Gen Z are Hispanic

Gen Zers are slightly less probable than Millennials to be immigrants: six% were born outside of the U.South., compared with vii% of Millennials at the aforementioned age. Only they are more than likely to be the children of immigrants: 22% of Gen Zers accept at least 1 immigrant parent (compared with 14% of Millennials). Even as clearing flows into the U.South. have diminished in contempo years, new immigrants will bring together the ranks of Gen Z in the years to come. As a result, this generation is projected to become bulk nonwhite past 2026, according to Census Bureau projections.

In some regions of the U.Southward., Gen Z has already crossed this threshold. In the West, only 40% of Gen Zers are not-Hispanic white. Only every bit many are Hispanic, while iv% are black, 10% are Asian and 6% are some other race. In the South, 46% of Gen Zers are non-Hispanic white. Minority representation is lowest in the Midwest, where more than two-thirds of Gen Zers (68%) are non-Hispanic white.

Gen Z on track to be the best-educated generation nevertheless

A await at older members of Generation Z suggests they are on a somewhat different educational trajectory than the generations that came before them. They are less likely to drib out of high schoolhouse and more than probable to be enrolled in college. Among eighteen- to 21-year-olds no longer in loftier school in 2018, 57% were enrolled in a two-yr or four-year college. This compares with 52% among Millennials in 2003 and 43% amid members of Gen X in 1987.

Gen Zers more likely to be enrolled in college and to have a college-educated parent than Millennials, Gen Xers at a comparable age

These irresolute educational patterns are tied to changes in clearing especially among Hispanics. Gen Z Hispanics are less likely than Millennial Hispanics to be immigrants, and previous inquiry has shown that second-generation Hispanic youth are less likely to drop out of high school and more than likely to attend higher than foreign-born Hispanic youth.

Gen Zers are also more likely to have a college-educated parent than are previous generations of young people. In 2019, 44% of Gen Zers ages vii to 17 were living with a parent who had a bachelor's caste or more didactics, compared with 33% of Millennials when they were the same age. Both of these trends reflect the overall trend toward more Americans pursuing college education.

Perhaps because they are more likely to be engaged in educational endeavors, Gen Zers are less probable to exist working than previous generations when they were teens and young adults. Only xviii% of Gen Z teens (ages fifteen to 17) were employed in 2018, compared with 27% of Millennial teens in 2002 and 41% of Gen Xers in 1986. And among immature adults ages 18 to 22, while 62% of Gen Zers were employed in 2018, higher shares of Millennials (71%) and Gen Xers (79%) were working when they were a comparable historic period.

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Gen Zers and Millennials have like viewpoints on many major issues of the twenty-four hour period

Gen Z more likely than other generations to want an activist government

The views of Gen Z mirror those of Millennials in many means. Notwithstanding, survey data collected in 2018 (well before the coronavirus outbreak) shows that there are places where this younger generation stands out as having a somewhat different outlook.

For example, members of Gen Z are more likely than older generations to await to authorities to solve problems, rather than businesses and individuals. Fully seven-in-x Gen Zers say the authorities should exercise more than to solve problems, while 29% say government is doing too many things better left to businesses and individuals. A somewhat smaller share of Millennials (64%) say government should do more to solve problems, and this view is fifty-fifty less prevalent amid older generations (53% of Gen Xers, 49% of Boomers and 39% of Silents).

Gen Z, Millennials, most likely to say climate change is due to human activity

For the nearly function, however, Gen Zers and Millennials share similar views on issues facing the state. These younger generations are more likely than their older counterparts to say the world is getting warmer due to human being activity: 54% of Gen Z and 56% of Millennials say this, compared with smaller shares of Gen Xers, Boomers and Silents (48%, 45% and 38%, respectively).

When it comes to race relations, Gen Zers and Millennials are about as likely to say that blacks are treated less fairly than whites in this country. Roughly two-thirds of Gen Zers and Millennials say this, compared with nearly half of Gen Xers and Boomers and smaller shares amongst the Silent Generation.

Younger generations also share a different view of the U.Southward. relative to other countries in the world. Gen Zers (14%) and Millennials (13%) are less probable than Gen Xers (20%), Boomers (30%) or Silents (45%) to say the U.S. is improve thanall other countries. However, pluralities of every generation except the Silent Generation say the U.S. is one of the best countries in the world forth with some others.

Within the GOP, Gen Zers have sharp differences with their elders

Among Republicans and those who lean to the Republican Party, there are hit differences between Generation Z and older generations on social and political issues. In their views on race, Gen Z Republicans are more likely than older generations of Republicans to say blacks are treated less fairly than whites in the U.Due south. today. Fully 43% of Republican Gen Zers say this, compared with 30% of Millennial Republicans and roughly two-in-10 Gen X, Boomer and Silent Generation Republicans. Views are much more consistent across generations among Democrats and Democratic leaners.

Gen Z Republicans are more likely than Republicans in older generations to say blacks are treated less fairly

Similarly, the youngest Republicans stand up out in their views on the role of regime and the causes of climate modify. Gen Z Republicans are much more likely than older generations of Republicans to want an increased government role in solving problems. About half (52%) of Republican Gen Zers say government should practice more, compared with 38% of Millennials, 29% of Gen Xers and fifty-fifty smaller shares amongst older generations. And the youngest Republicans are less probable than their older counterparts to attribute the earth'due south warming temperatures to natural patterns, as opposed to human being activity (18% of Gen Z Republicans say this, compared with iii-in-10 or more than among older generations of Republicans).

Overall, members of Gen Z look like to Millennials in their political preferences, specially when it comes to the upcoming 2020 election. Among registered voters, a January Pew Research Center survey found that 61% of Gen Z voters (ages 18 to 23) said they were definitely or probably going to vote for the Democratic candidate for president in the 2020 ballot, while most a quarter (22%) said they were planning to vote for Trump. Millennial voters, similarly, were much more likely to say they plan to support a Democrat in Nov than Trump (58% vs. 25%). Larger shares of Gen X voters (37%), Boomers (44%) and Silents (53%) said they plan to back up President Trump.

Immature women register to vote in September 2018 in Torrance, California. (Sarah Morris/Getty Images)

Younger generations meet family, societal modify as a good affair

About half of Gen Z, Millennials say same-sex marriage is good for society

Across a number of measures, Gen Zers and Millennials stand out from older generations in their views of family and societal modify. Roughly half of Gen Zers (48%) and Millennials (47%) say gay and lesbian couples being allowed to marry is a skillful affair for our society. By comparing, just i-third of Gen Xers and nearly one-quarter of Boomers (27%) say this is a good thing. Pluralities of Boomers and Gen Xers say it doesn't brand a difference. Members of the Silent Generation are the nigh likely to view this as a bad matter for society.

There is a similar blueprint in views of people of different races marrying each other, with larger shares of Millennials and Gen Zers saying this is a good thing for our society, compared with older generations. Very few across generations say this is a bad matter for guild.

Gen Zers and Millennials are less likely than older generations to say that single women raising children on their own is a bad thing for social club. Still, relatively few in both generations say this is a practiced thing for order, while about half say information technology doesn't make much difference (roughly similar to the shares among older generations).

When it comes to their own home life, the experiences of Gen Z reverberate, in part, wide trends that have reshaped the American family in recent decades. Co-ordinate to a Pew Enquiry Center analysis of Demography Bureau data, well-nigh three-in-ten (29%) live in a household with an unmarried parent while 66% alive with ii married parents. A roughly comparable share of Millennials (69%) lived with two married parents at a similar historic period, but the shares among Gen Xers and Boomers were significantly larger (72% and 86%). Of those Gen Zers who are living with ii married parents, in nearly cases both of those parents are in the labor forcefulness (64%). This compares with a slightly college share of Millennials who were living with two parents at a comparable age (66% had two parents in the labor force) and a slightly lower share of Gen Xers (61%).

Generations differ in their familiarity and comfort with using gender-neutral pronouns

Ideas about gender identity are rapidly changing in the U.Due south., and Gen Z is at the forepart end of those changes. Gen Zers are much more probable than those in older generations to say they personally know someone who prefers to go by gender-neutral pronouns, with 35% maxim and so, compared with 25% of Millennials, 16% of Gen Xers, 12% of Boomers and only 7% of Silents. This generational pattern is evident among both Democrats and Republicans.

There are also stark generational differences in views of how gender options are presented on official documents. Gen Z is by far the most likely to say that when a form or online profile asks about a person's gender it should include options other than "homo" and "woman." About six-in-ten Gen Zers (59%) say forms or online profiles should include boosted gender options, compared with half of Millennials, most four-in-ten Gen Xers and Boomers (40% and 37%, respectively) and roughly a tertiary of those in the Silent Generation (32%).

Gen Zers are more likely to know someone using gender-neutral pronouns and more likely to say forms should offer gender options other than 'man' and 'woman'

These views vary widely along partisan lines, and there are generational differences within each political party coalition. But those differences are sharpest among Republicans: About 4-in-10 Republican Gen Zers (41%) remember forms should include additional gender options, compared with 27% of Republican Millennials, 17% of Gen Xers and Boomers and sixteen% of Silents. Among Democrats, half or more in all generations say this.

Gen Zers are like to Millennials in their comfort with using gender-neutral pronouns. Both groups express somewhat higher levels of comfort than other generations, though generational differences on this question are fairly small. Majorities of Gen Zers and Millennials say they would feel "very" or "somewhat" comfortable using a gender-neutral pronoun to refer to someone if asked to practise then. By comparison, Gen Xers and Boomers are about evenly divided: Nigh equally many say they would feel at least somewhat comfy (49% and 50%, respectively) every bit say they would exist uncomfortable.

Members of Gen Z are also similar to Millennials in their views on society's acceptance of those who exercise not identify as a man or a adult female. Roughly half of Gen Zers (l%) and Millennials (47%) think that society is not accepting plenty of these individuals. Smaller shares of Gen Xers (39%), Boomers (36%) and those in the Silent Generation (32%) say the same.

Hither once more there are large partisan gaps, and Gen Z Republicans stand apart from other generations of Republicans in their views. About three-in-ten Republican Gen Zers (28%) say that society is not accepting enough of people who don't identify as a man or adult female, compared with two-in-ten Millennials, 15% of Gen Xers, 13% of Boomers and 11% of Silents. Democrats' views are almost uniform across generations in saying that society is not accepting plenty of people who don't identify equally a man or a woman.

Teens and engineering science

Many teens say they are online almost constantly; YouTube is their top social media platform

Looking at the human relationship American teens take with engineering science provides a window into the experiences of a significant segment of Generation Z. According to a 2018 Pew Research Centre survey, 95% of 13- to 17-year-olds take access to a smartphone, and a similar share (97%) use at least one of seven major online platforms.

YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat are among teens' favorite online destinations. Some 85% say they use YouTube, 72% use Instagram and 69% apply Snapchat. Facebook is less popular with teens – 51% say they employ this social media site. Some 45% of teens say they are online "almost constantly," and an additional 44% say they're online several times a day.

Some researchers accept suggested that the growing amount of fourth dimension teens are spending on their mobile devices, and specifically on social media, is contributing to the growth in feet and depression amidst this group. Teens have mixed views on whether social media has had a positive or negative effect on their generation. About three-in-ten (31%) say the effect on people their own age has been mostly positive, 24% say information technology's been mostly negative, and 45% say information technology'southward been neither positive nor negative.

Many teens who say social media has had a positive effect say a major reason they feel this way is because it helps them stay connected with friends and family unit (forty% of teens who say social media has a mostly positive effect say this). For those who see the result of social media as negative, the nearly common reason cited is that information technology leads to bullying and rumor spreading (27% of teens who say social media has a by and large negative issue say this).