Gen Z experiences a complex mix of high anxiety/stress, a strong desire for authenticity, emotional awareness, and sometimes feelings of hopelessness, driven by global pressures, digital saturation, and future uncertainty, leading to both openness about mental health and struggles with decision-making and emotional regulation. They often feel unheard or overly scrutinized, expressing emotions through neutral stares or a rejection of performative positivity, while also being more willing to seek therapy and discuss mental well-being.
Whilst boomers and millennials may use the 😂 emoji, this has long since been deemed 'uncool' (or 'cheugy') by Gen Z. Instead, this has been replaced by the skull (💀) or the crying emoji (😭), dramatising the idea of 'dying with laughter'.
Gen Z are typically self-driven, collaborative, and diverse-minded. They value flexibility, authenticity, and a pragmatic approach to addressing problems. Gen Z are misunderstood. Contrary to stereotypes of being “lazy” or “coddled,” Gen Z is entrepreneurial and adaptive.
Gen Z, born between the mid-1990s and early 2010s, is often characterized as the most emotionally aware generation in the workforce. Arguably, they're more adept at recognizing and articulating their feelings.
Social Issues
Across much of the world, it is no longer middle-aged adults who are the most miserable. Instead, young people, especially Gen Z, are reporting the highest levels of unhappiness of any age group.
Bae – Boyfriend or girlfriend.
Recent research shows that members of the Baby Boomer generation have worse health than previous generations did at the same ages—diabetes, heart disease and other chronic illnesses are more common.
There's no single "toughest" generation, as each faces unique struggles, but Generation X (born 1965-1980) is often cited as the most stressed due to balancing work, family, and finances while facing economic uncertainty, yet they also show high resilience, while younger generations like Gen Z grapple with unprecedented housing costs and climate anxiety, making the definition of "tough" subjective and dependent on the specific challenges faced.
The defining traits of Gen Z
93% of Gen Zs take part in socialising involving competitive activities. With young men increasingly keen to try new activities such as VR gaming bars and social cricket; while more 'traditional' competitive activities like bowling and crazy golf have higher appeal to young women.
For Gen Z, many of these fears stem from a combination of things: economic uncertainty and financial insecurity, climate concerns, student debt, job market instability, social media, rapid change and an overall loss of hope and purpose.
Generation Z has been described as "better behaved and less hedonistic" than previous generations. They have fewer teenage pregnancies, consume less alcohol (but not necessarily other psychoactive drugs), and are more focused on school and job prospects.
Resembles plewds, stylized sweat droplets used in comics and animation to show characters working hard or feeling stressed. May be used to represent various types of liquids, including sexual fluids. May also be used to represent various liquid-based slang expressions (e.g., drip, “exceptional style, swagger").
Commonly used to express gratitude or a plea. Gen Z might use it to say thank you or to ask for something kindly. Emoji Example: “Thanks for your help! 🙏”
“Can't lie” “Can't lie” falls under the same umbrella as slang terms like NGL (not gonna lie) and TBH (to be honest). The 🆑 emoji is perfect to use when you're trying to keep things unfiltered and brutally honest.
46% of Gen Z workers, 37% of Millennials, and 25% of Gen X said they would likely quit due to limited growth or upskilling opportunities.
of the coolest people to ever grace the planet are Gen X: Chloë Sevigny, Alexander McQueen, Winona Ryder, Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss. She then goes on to credit Gen X with inspiring lots of the stuff millenials and Gen Z find so appealing.
Some consider millennials to be one of the heaviest generations. In the U.K., researchers found at least seven in 10 people born in the millennial generations will be overweight or obese before they reach middle age. Baby boomers only faced rates of five in 10.
“Often referred to as the 'unluckiest generation,”millennials have had to adapt to rising costs of living and an unpredictable job market during their most formative career years.
It is a known fact that lifespan increases with each generation. For baby boomers, the average life expectancy is 70 years, for Gen X its 85, and newer generations like Gen Z and Alpha will likely exceed the 100-year mark.
But it does provide some rough guidelines as to how soon may be too soon to make long-term commitments and how long may be too long to stick with a relationship. Each of the three numbers—three, six, and nine—stands for the month that a different common stage of a relationship tends to end.
Sweet Nicknames for Girlfriends
For Gen Z, the 😭 (Loudly Crying Face) emoji usually means something is overwhelmingly funny, cute, or heartwarming, signifying "crying with laughter" or extreme emotion, rather than actual sadness, often replacing older emojis like 😂 (Tears of Joy) or the skull emoji 💀 for laughter. It conveys intense, often positive, feelings that are so powerful they bring on tears, showing they are "dead" from laughing or being touched.