Generation Z in the United States

Part of a series on
Social generations of the Western world

Generation Z (or Gen Z for short), colloquially known as Zoomers,[1][2] is the demographic cohort succeeding Millennials and preceding Generation Alpha.[3]

Members of Generation Z, were born between the mid-to-late 1990s and the early 2010s, with the generation typically being defined as those born from 1997 to 2012. In other words, the first wave came of age during the second decade of the twenty-first century,[4] a time of significant demographic change due to declining birthrates, population aging, and immigration.[5] Girls of the early twenty-first century reach puberty earlier than their counterparts from the previous generations.[6] They have higher incidents of eye problems,[7][8] allergies,[9][10] awareness and reporting of mental health issues,[9][11][12] suicide,[13] and sleep deprivation,[14][15] but lower rates of adolescent pregnancy.[16][17][18] They drink alcohol and smoke traditional tobacco cigarettes less often,[19] but are more likely to consume marijuana[20][21] and electronic cigarettes.[22]

Americans who grew up in the 2000s and 2010s saw gains in IQ points,[23] but loss in creativity.[24] During the 2000s and 2010s, while Western educators in general and American schoolteachers in particular concentrated on helping struggling rather than gifted students,[25] American students of the 2010s were trailing behind their counterparts from other countries, especially East Asia, in reading and in STEM.[26][27] They ranked above the OECD average in science and computer literacy, but below average in mathematics.[28] Mathematical literacy and reading proficiency among American schoolchildren both fell in the 2010s.[29]

They read books less often than their predecessors and spend more time in front of a screen.[30][31][32] They tend to become familiar with the Internet and portable digital devices at a young age,[4] but are not necessarily digitally literate.[33] Spending so much time on social media can distort their view of the world,[34] hamper their social development,[35] and harm their mental health.[36][37][38][39][40]

Although they trust traditional news media more than what they see online,[41] they tend to be more skeptical of the news than their parents.[42] Young Americans of the late 2010s and early 2020s tend to hold politically left-leaning views.[43][44] However, there is a significant sex gap[45] and most are more interested in advancing their careers than pursuing idealistic political causes.[46][47] As voters, Generation Z's top issue is the economy.[48] They are also more likely to be irreligious than older cohorts.[49][50]

On the whole, they are financially cautious,[51][52] and are increasingly interested in alternatives to attending institutions of higher education,[53][54] with young men being primarily responsible for the trend.[55][56] Among those who choose to go to college, grades and standards have fallen because of disruptions in learning due to COVID-19.[57] As consumers, Generation Z's actual purchases do not reflect their environmental ideals.[58][59]

Although American youth culture has become highly fragmented by the start of the early twenty-first century, a product of growing individualism,[60] nostalgia is a major feature of youth culture in the 2010s and 2020s.[61][62]

  1. ^ "Words We're Watching: 'Zoomer'". Merriam-Webster. October 2021. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  2. ^ "zoomer". Dictionary.com. January 16, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  3. ^ Williams, Alex (September 19, 2015). "Meet Alpha: The Next 'Next Generation'". Fashion. The New York Times. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
  4. ^ a b "Generation Z". Lexico. Oxford English Dictionary. Archived from the original on August 17, 2019. Retrieved August 17, 2019.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Pew-2018a was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Nawaz, Amna; Hudgins, Jackson. "New study details potential long-term health risks as American girls reach puberty earlier". PBS Newshour. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
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  12. ^ Bethune, Sophie (January 2019). "Gen Z more likely to report mental health concerns". Monitor. 50 (1). American Psychological Association: 20.
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  16. ^ Patten, Eileen; Livingston, Gretchen (April 29, 2016). "Why is the teen birth rate falling?". Pew Research Center. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
  17. ^ Edwards, Erika (November 27, 2019). "U.S. birth rate falls for 4th year in a row". Health News. NBC News. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
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  23. ^ Flynn, James R.; Shayer, Michael (January–February 2018). "IQ decline and Piaget: Does the rot start at the top?". Intelligence. 66: 112–121. doi:10.1016/j.intell.2017.11.010.
  24. ^ Kim, Kyung Hee (2011). "The Creativity Crisis: The Decrease in Creative Thinking Scores on the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking". Creativity Research Journal. 23 (4): 285–95. doi:10.1080/10400419.2011.627805. S2CID 10855765.
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  27. ^ DeSilver, Drew (February 15, 2017). "U.S. students' academic achievement still lags that of their peers in many other countries". Pew Research Center. Retrieved November 21, 2020.
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  29. ^ Goldstein, Dana (December 3, 2019). "'It Just Isn't Working': Test Scores Cast Doubt on U.S. Education Efforts". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 3, 2019. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
  30. ^ Sliwa, Jim (August 20, 2018). "Teens Today Spend More Time on Digital Media, Less Time Reading". American Psychological Association. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
  31. ^ Twenge, Jean; Martin, Gabrielle; Spitzberg, Brian (2018). "Trends in U.S. Adolescents' Media Use, 1976-2016: The Rise of Digital Media, the Decline of TV, and the (Near) Demise of Print". Psychology of Popular Media Culture. 8 (4): 329–345. doi:10.1037/ppm0000203. S2CID 158283705.
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  35. ^ Haidt, Jonathan (May 2022). "Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on May 13, 2024. Retrieved June 11, 2024.
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  39. ^ Schwartz, Casey (April 20, 2023). "Jean Twenge is ready to make you defend your generation again". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on April 20, 2023. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
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  41. ^ "New Barnes & Noble Education Report Finds Gen Z Will Have Strong Influence on 2020 Presidential Election". Business Wire (via AP). June 20, 2019. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
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  52. ^ Solmon, Paul (May 16, 2019). "What Gen Z college grads are looking for in a career". PBS Newshour. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
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  55. ^ Belkin, Douglas (September 6, 2021). "A Generation of American Men Give Up on College: 'I Just Feel Lost'". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
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  60. ^ Twenge, Jean (2023). "Chapter 1: The How and Why of Generations". Generations: The Real Differences Between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X and Silents—and What The Mean for America's Future. New York: Atria Books. ISBN 978-1-9821-8161-1.
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