The youth are lazy?: Study on Gen Z shows surprising result

Analyse

Gen Z is lazy, they don’t want to work, the “life” in work-life balance is more important to them.

These are just a few of the numerous prejudices against the younger generation. Depending on the interpretation, Gen Z usually means the years of birth between 1995 and 2010.

Is youth lazy? “No,” says Simon Schnetzer, author and head of the trend study “Youth in Germany 2023”, on Tuesday in a media round. This year, a comparison of generations was added to the youth study for the first time.

In an interview with watson, Schnetzer explains where the prejudice against Gen Z comes from and why the result of the generational comparison did not surprise him.

Surprising result? Generational conflict is avoided

The trend study has been conducted since 2010. Last year, the war in Ukraine and the aftermath of the corona pandemic were the main focus.

Normally only the age group between 14 and 29 years was surveyed. This year For the first time, members of the age groups 30 to 49 years, i.e. in a way the millennials, and 50 to 69 years were included.

Given the prejudice against Gen Z, you might think there is a generational gap. After all, school leavers often hear sentences from their parents like: “You all only want to work four days anyway or become an influencer”.

The study authors (from left) Kilian Hampel, Simon Schnetzer and Klaus Hurrelmann.Image: private / Ines Njers, Pio Mars, Hertie School

However, youth researcher Simon Schnetzer does not see this as a conflict. In an interview with watson, he explains that he even deliberately dispenses with the term. Rather, he would describe it as a lack of understanding: “A lack of understanding of the wishes and expectations of others”. Therefore, the result is not surprising for him. According to the study, there is no generational conflict.

In general, there was agreement on value orientation. Virtues similar to those of the older generation, such as family, freedom or justice, are important to young people. In their study, the three authors write:

There is much more potential for a generational conflict when it comes to poverty in old age. On the one hand, the older people would now be afraid. Wondering if the younger generation will work enough to secure the pensions of the older generation. And on the other hand, Gen Z is afraid of now paying into a system from which they would ultimately get nothing out, explains Schnetzer.

Generation Z is under constant stress

The latter is also one of the six biggest concerns of 14 to 29 year olds, as the trend study shows. However, inflation ranks first (63 percent). Fear of war in Europe (59 percent), climate change (53 percent) and an impending economic crisis (45 percent) and fear of a split in society also top the list of young people’s concerns.

In this context, Schnetzer’s co-author Kilian Hampel sounds the alarm when it comes to prosperity and poverty. In a media round on Tuesday, he emphasized that the financial situation of young people is even worse than in winter, at the time of the previous youth study. “It’s hit a new low.” Around every fifth person between the ages of 14 and 29 said they were suffering from poverty.

So the burden has increased. And with it the self-doubt.

Young people in particular had to do without a lot for around three years because of the corona pandemic.Image: dpa / Matthias Balk

Almost half of all respondents stated that they suffered from stress. Among the older people between 50 and 69 years it is only 20 percent. According to the authors of the study, the older generation is fundamentally more pessimistic about the future than GenZ – However, as the study shows, young people feel significantly more burdened by the current crises.

But why is that?

Generation researcher Klaus Hurrelmann described the results on Tuesday as follows: On the one hand, young people would put more pressure on themselves with the thought that they could fail. On the other hand, life planning is much more complex today than it used to be. In addition, Gen Z would be more afraid of the economic future than their elders. And last but not least, the corona pandemic is far from forgotten.

“The years of renunciation have left mental scars,” Hurrelmann emphasized in the media round.

GenZ is not lazy – youth researcher explains the background of the myth

But back to the prejudices against the younger generation. Where does the myth come from that young people don’t want to work?

Simon Schnetzer explains it this way in an interview with watson:

This is also the reason why the demands for a four-day week are more likely to be attributed to Generation Z than to the older generation. In addition, this impression would be reinforced by a system that didn’t work for them. Older people would find it easier to say: “Young people don’t want to work”. But the truth is: Gen Z just wants to work differently and not in an outdated system.

This was also confirmed by high school graduate Nour Idelbi in the media round on Tuesday. She stressed: “We are not lazy! Our generation just wants to work differently. We are risk takers, we want to make a difference, to be our own boss.”

The outdated system doesn’t work for GenZ: they want to work, but differently than the generations before them.Bild: iStockphoto / Alessandro Biascioli

Saving Gen Z: What needs to be done now

Almost every second young generation suffers from stress and symptoms such as exhaustion (35 percent), self-doubt (33 percent) and irritability (24 percent).

In an interview with watson, Simon Schnetzer demands that something urgently needs to be done about this. Above all, there is currently a lack of concrete offers of help. A focus should be placed on mental health. The offers should be increased, especially in schools and universities.

But when it comes to old-age provision, young people definitely need to be picked up. “We can no longer look the other way. We can no longer finance the current system,” says Schnetzer. All people of all ages would be afraid in this context.

A good example is Switzerland, Schnetzer explained. There, pension insurance, employer insurance and your own provision are in harmony. The youth researcher thinks that people should be better instructed to act on their own responsibility. He demands:

“We have to do more than just ‘keep it up’!”

Gen Z is lazy, they don’t want to work, the “life” in work-life balance is more important to them.