Generation Z, often shortened to Gen Z and informally
known as Zoomers, is the
demographic cohort succeeding Millennials and
preceding Generation Alpha. Researchers and popular
media use the mid-to-late 1990s as starting birth years
and the early 2010s as ending birth years, with the
generation typically being defined as people born from
1997 to 2012.[1] Most members of Generation Z are the
children of members of Younger Baby
Boomers, Generation X and older Millennials, and it is
predicted that many will be the parents of members of
younger Generation Alpha and Generation Beta.[2][3]
As children during the mid-late 2000s and 2010s,
Generation Z was the first social generation to grow up
with Web 2.0 and digital technology as an established
commodity.[4] From a young age, they have watched online
videos and web series (often via YouTube),[5] and played
online games. As adolescents and young adults in the
2010s and 2020s, members of the generation were
dubbed "digital natives",[6] even if they were not
necessarily digitally literate[7] and might struggle in a digital
or virtual workplace.[8][9]
Generation Z has been described as "better behaved and
less hedonistic" than previous generations.[10][11] They have
fewer teenage pregnancies, consume less alcohol (but not
necessarily less of other psychoactive drugs),[12][13][14] and
are more focused on school and job prospects.[10][15]They
are also better at delaying gratification than teens from the
1960s.[16]Sexting became popular during Gen Z's
adolescent years, although the long-term psychological
effects are not yet fully understood.[17]
There is greater awareness and diagnosis of mental
health conditions among Generation Z,[15][14][18][19] and sleep
deprivation is more frequently reported.[20][21][22] Moreover,
the negative effects of screen time in the late 2010s were
most pronounced in adolescents, as compared to younger
children.[23] Youth subcultures have not disappeared, but
they have been quieter.[24][25] Nostalgia is a major theme of
youth culture in the 2010s and 2020s.[26][27] Meanwhile,
Generation Z has been active in politics around the world,
particularly through youth-led movements with social
media playing a major role in mobilization and
communication.[28][29][30]
Terminology
The name Generation Z is a reference to it being the
second generation after Generation X, continuing the
alphabetical sequence from Generation Y (Millennials).[31]
[page range too broad][32]
Other names for the generation have
included iGeneration,[33] Homeland Generation,[34] Digital
Natives,[33] Neo-Digital Natives (emphasizing the shift from
PC to mobileand text to video among this cohort),
[35]
Pluralist Generation,[33] Internet Generation,[36]
[33]
and Centennials.[37] The Pew Research
Center surveyed the various terms for this cohort
on Google Trends in 2019, and found that in the
U.S., Generation Z was overwhelmingly the most popular.
[38]
The Merriam-Webster and Oxford dictionaries both
have official entries for Generation Z.[39]
"While there is no scientific process for deciding
when a name has stuck, the momentum is clearly
behind Gen Z."
— Michael Dimmock, Pew Research Center[39]
Psychologist and author Jean Twenge also used the term,
intending it as the title of her 2006 book about Millennials
but changing the title to Generation Me at the insistence of
her publisher. Twenge later used the term for her 2017
book on Gen Z, iGen. Others also claim to have coined
the name.[33]
Authors William Strauss and Neil Howe, creators of
the Strauss–Howe generational theory, adopted the
term Homeland Generation (or Homelanders)[34] in 2005
after sponsoring a contest to name the post-Millennial
group.[33] The term Homeland refers to being the first
generation to enter childhood after protective surveillance
state measures, like the Department of Homeland
Security, were put into effect following the September 11
attacks.[34]
Zoomer is an informal term used to refer to members of
Generation Z.[40][41][42] It combines the shorthand Boomer,
referring to Baby Boomers, with the "Z" from Generation
Z. Zoomer in its current incarnation skyrocketed in
popularity in 2018, when it was used in
a meme on 4chan mocking Gen Z adolescents via
a Wojak caricature.[43][44] Merriam-Webster's records
suggest the use of the term Zoomer in the sense of
Generation Z dates to at least as early as 2016. It was
added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary in October
2021[40] and to [Link] in January 2020.[45] It is
more commonly utilized as a neutral rather than
disparaging description. In the past, Zoomer was
occasionally used to describe particularly active Baby
Boomers.[40]
Date and age range definitions
The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines
Generation Z as "the generation of people born in the late
1990s and early 2000s".[46] The Oxford Dictionaries define
Generation Z as "the group of people who were born
between the late 1990s and the early 2010s, who are
regarded as being very familiar with the internet".
[47]
Encyclopedia Britannica defines Generation Z as "the
term used to describe Americans born during the late
1990s and early 2000s. Some sources give the specific
year range of 1997–2012, although the years spanned are
sometimes contested or debated because generations
and their zeitgeists are difficult to delineate."[4]
The Pew Research Center specifies that 1997 is the
starting birth year for Generation Z, based on the "different
formative experiences" of this cohort, such as new
technological and socioeconomic developments, as well
as growing up in a world after the September 11 attacks.
[48]
Pew has not specified an endpoint for Generation Z, but
used 2012 as a tentative endpoint for their 2019 report.
[48]
Most news outlets, management and consulting firms,
think tanks, and analytics companies frequently use the
starting birth year of 1997, often citing Pew Research's
1997–2012 range.[a][b][c] Statistics Canada used 1997 to
2012, citing Pew Research Center, in a 2022 publication
analyzing the 2021 Canadian census.[74]The United
States Library of Congress uses 1997 to 2012, citing Pew
Research as well.[75] The U.S. Census designates
Generation Z as "the youngest generation with adult
members (born 1997 to 2013)" in a 2022 report.[76]
The Collins Dictionary defines Generation Z as people
born between the mid-1990s and mid-2010s.[77] Australia's
McCrindle Research uses 1995 to 2009 to define Gen Z.[78]
[79]
The Statistics Bureau of Japan defined Generation Z as
those born 1995 to 2010 in their 2020 Census.[80] In her
book iGen (2017), psychologist Jean Twenge defines the
"iGeneration" as the cohort born 1995 to 2012.
[81]
The Australian Bureau of Statistics uses between 1996
and 2010 in a 2021 Census report.[82]
Individuals born in the Millennial and Generation Z cusp
years have been sometimes identified as a
"microgeneration" with characteristics of both generations.
The most common name given for these cuspers
is Zillennials.[83][84] Individuals born on the cusp of
Generation Z and Generation Alpha have been referred to
as Zalphas.[85]
Arts and culture
Happiness and personal values
The Economist has described Generation Z as a
more educated, well-behaved, stressed and depressed ge
neration in comparison to previous generations.[15] In 2016,
the Varkey Foundation and Populus conducted an
international study examining the attitudes of over 20,000
people aged 15 to 21 in twenty countries. They found that
59% of Gen Z youth were happy overall with the states of
affairs in their personal lives. The most unhappy young
people were from South Korea(29%) and Japan (28%),
while the happiest were from Indonesia (90%)
and Nigeria (78%).[86]
The best sources of happiness were being physically and
mentally healthy (94%), having a good relationship with
family (92%), and with friends (91%). In general,
respondents who were younger and male tended to be
happier. Religious faith was purportedly the least
happiness-inducing.[86]
The top reasons for anxiety and stress were money (51%)
and school (46%); social media and having access to
basic resources (such as food and water) finished the list,
both at 10%. Concerns over food and water were most
serious in China (19%), India (16%), and Indonesia (16%);
young Indians were also more likely than average to report
stress due to social media (19%).[87]
Important personal values of Gen Z are their families and
themselves getting ahead in life (both 27%), followed by
honesty (26%). Looking beyond their local communities
came last at 6%.[86] Familial values were especially strong
in South America (34%) while individualism and the
entrepreneurial spirit proved popular in Africa (37%).
People who influenced youths the most were parents
(89%), friends (79%), and teachers (70%). Celebrities
(30%) and politicians (17%) came last. In general, young
men were more likely to be influenced by athletes and
politicians than young women, who preferred books and
fictional characters. Celebrity culture was especially
influential in China (60%) and Nigeria (71%) and
particularly irrelevant in Argentina and Turkey (both 19%).
[86]
For young people, the most important factors for their
current or future careers were the possibility of honing
their skills (24%), and income (23%) while the most
unimportant factors were fame (3%) and whether or not
the organization they worked for made a positive impact
on the world (13%). The most important factors for young
people when thinking about their futures were their
families (47%) and their health (21%); the welfare of the
world at large (4%) and their local communities (1%)
bottomed the list.[86]
According to the 2025 World Happiness Report, young
adults living the Anglosphere (Australia, Canada, Ireland,
New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States)
were most prone to pessimism, a consequence of their
deteriorating mental health and economic hardship.[88]
Common culture
The COVID-19 pandemic struck when the oldest members
of Generation Z were just joining the workforce and the
rest were still in school.[89] While Generation Z proved to
be less resilient than older cohorts, their fundamental
values did not change, and they remained open to
change, such as the transition towards hybrid school
and remote work.[90] On average, Generation Z is more
likely to value ambition, creativity, and curiosity than the
general population, including Millennials.[91]
A 2020 survey conducted by the Center for Generational
Kinetics, on 1,000 members of Generation Z and 1,000
Millennials, suggests that Generation Z still would like to
travel, despite the COVID-19 pandemic and the recession
it induced. However, Generation Z is more likely to look
carefully for package deals that would bring them the most
value for their money, as many of them are already saving
money for buying a house and for retirement, and they
prefer more physically active trips. Mobile-friendly
websites and social-media engagements are both
important.[92] They take advantage of the Internet to market
and sell their fresh produce. In Western countries like the
United Kingdom, teenagers now prefer to get their news
from social-media networks such
as Instagram and TikTok and the video-sharing site
YouTube rather than more traditional media, such as radio
or television.[93]
Generation Z comes of age during
the Information Age, which has influenced not just their
societies but also their lifestyle choices.
Having a mobile device has become almost universal by
the time the first wave of Generation Z reaches
adolescence. Some even have their phones besides them
in bed.[94] But despite being digital natives, Generation Z
also values in-person interactions and recognizes the
limits of virtual communications.[91] Among children and
teenagers of the 2010s, much leisure time is spent
watching television, reading, social networking, watching
YouTube videos, and playing games on smartphones.[95] In
recognition of the Internet culture of Generations Z and
Alpha, the Oxford English Dictionary chose brain rot as its
word of the year in 2024.[96][97]
During the 2010s, youth subcultures that were as
influential compared to what existed during the late 20th
century and the first decade of the 21st became scarcer
and quieter, at least in real life though not necessarily on
the Internet, and more ridden with irony and self-
consciousness due to the awareness of incessant peer
surveillance.[98][99] In Germany, young people are more
interested in a more mainstream lifestyle with goals such
as finishing school, owning a home in the suburbs,
maintaining friendships and family relationships, and
stable employment, rather than popular culture, glamor,
or consumerism.[100]
Nostalgia
Floral prints are enjoying a revival in
the 2020s thanks to Generation Z.[101]
Boundaries between the different youth subcultures
appear to have been blurred, and nostalgic sentiments
have risen.[98][99] Although nostalgia is normally associated
with the elderly, this sentiment is now commonplace
among those who came of age during the 2010s and
2020s. Struggling with present realities, Millennials and
Generation Z long for the past, when life seemed simpler
and less stressful, even if they have themselves never
experienced it,[102] a phenomenon known as "anemoia" to
psychologists.[101] For example, although an aesthetic
dubbed 'cottagecore' in 2018 has been around for many
years,[103] it has become a subculture of Generation Z,
[104]
especially on various social media networks in the
wake of the mass lockdowns imposed to combat the
spread of COVID-19.[105] It is a form of escapism[103]and
aspirational nostalgia.[106] Nostalgic sentiments surged
during and after the COVID pandemic.[107] Vintage fashion,
such as floral patterns and cardigans, is growing in vogue
among Millennial and Generation Z consumers.[101]
[108]
Hobbies and other activities previously associated with
the elderly, such as baking, knitting, bird watching, or
vacationing on cruise ships, have returned to vogue
among Generation Z.[101]
Spotify consumer data from 2022 suggests that
Generation Z is most nostalgic for the 1980s.
[102]
The Netflix science-fiction horror series Stranger
Things (2016–2025), popular among Generation Z, has
revived interest in American aesthetics from the 1980s
when their parents, Generation X, were young.[109] 1980s
songs featured in the Stranger Thingssoundtracks became
popular among Generation Z, including "Running Up That
Hill" (1985) by Kate Bush, which has appeared in many
TikTok videos.[110] There is evidence that Generation Z is
also nostalgic for the 1990s and 2000s,[107]given the
popularity of aesthetics such as grunge, Y2K, and Frutiger
Aero among this cohort.[111][112][113][114][115] Other trends of
fashion and lifestyles among Generation Z include VSCO
girl, E-girl and E-boy, Soft girl, and many others, which
were made popular by TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest,
influencers, and celebrities.[116][117]
In Japan, Generation Z feels nostalgic for the Shōwa
era (1926–1989),[118][119] and they listen to the music
of Akina Nakamori, Seiko Matsuda and Yōko Oginome.[120]
[121]
Also popular among Generation Z, both in and outside
of the Home Islands, is Japanese music of 1970s and
1980s by artists such as Mariya Takeuchi[122]
[123]
and Masayoshi Takanaka.[124][125] (Also see Shōwa
nostalgia.)