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What Do You Need to Know about Gen-Z? A Lot!!

Updated: Dec 31, 2025

O God, you have taught me from my earliest childhood, and I constantly tell others about the wonderful things you do. O God. Let me proclaim your power to this new generation, your mighty miracles to all who come after me.


Psalm 71:17-18.


It is hard to imagine a generation that is:


-Transgender -Spend less time with text

-Transsexual -who have an attention span of 8

-Transracial seconds or an 8 second filter

-Transglobal -Gender is no more

-Transcommercial -curators of self, morality and

-Never known life without the truth

internet -Religion is outdated (too

-who are the largest and most traditional) instant gratification

diverse generation ever -More prone to suicide

-Greater depression and loneliness


Who are:

-Dating less -Having less sex

-Drinking and partying less -Mental health in great decline

-Restructuring free speech -Vulnerable to sleep disruption


Who are avoiding (at record rates):

-alcohol

-sex

-driving


“What were the main ethnic differences among Gen Z?” “Gen Z is the most diverse generation we’ve observed in American history.”


“What were the differences between Christian and non Christian Gen Z?” “…the problem of evil is a major barrier to faith for non-Christian teens (29%). … Christians are hypocrites (23%), I believe science refutes too much of the Bible (20%), I don’t believe in fairy tales (19%), there are too many injustices in the history of Christianity (15%), … church … not important to me anymore (12%) I had a bad experience at church / with a Christian (6%).”


“One of the biggest and most surprising shifts is that the family is not a major priority for GenZ.”


“Gen Z’s emphasis on career presents an opportunity of vocational discipleship.”


“Atheism doubles among Generation Z.”


“The first truly ‘post-Christian’ generation.”


(“Gen Z: Your Questions Answered”, Barna, February 6, 2018, https://www.barna.com/research/gen-z questions-answered/)


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“…Gen Z, the next generational cohort in line after the much pursued millennials, is spending significantly less time with text based publishers.”


“…Gen Z spends more time with video than their older counterparts…”


“The biggest increase was seen in short-form digital video, with 57% of teens 13-17 saying they’re watching more bite-sized video content than a year ago.”


(Erik Sass, “Gen Z Spends Less Time with Text”, Media Post, July 5, 2017, https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/303849/gen-z spends-less-time-with-text.html)


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“…the life of the ‘Generation Z’— independent, stubborn, pragmatic and always in a rush.”


“Numbering around two billion globally, these youngsters, born after 1995 and unaware of a world without Internet, live a life that seems a million miles removed from the hopes, dreams and morals of previous generations.”


“Daily life”


  •  “They want everything, everywhere and immediately.”


  • “They surf on two screens simultaneously.”


  • “They don't mind paying through the nose for the latest smart phone but turn up their nose at paying for a film or a song when you can get that for free online.”


  • “Aged 13 to 20, they get all the latest trends from social media and find the morals of their elders out-of-date.”


  • “Their fashions are those found worldwide over the web: they watch American blockbusters like ‘Hunger Games’ or ‘Divergent’, listen to Korean K-pop and, when they dance, they ‘twerk’.”


  • “When they speak, their vocabulary is peppered with acronyms, incomprehensible to those not in the know. ‘Swag’ is the new ‘cool’.”


  •  “And their new idols are Internet stars, like PewDiePie, who has the world's most subscribed YouTube channel.”


  • “Easier to talk online than in person.”


  • “Their friends on social media are as important to them as their friends in real life but sometimes they do actually meet up in person with these ‘virtual’ pals.”


  •  “More than eight out of 10 are hooked on social networks and more than half of them think that this is where their real social life takes place.”


  • “Even as young as they are, they have already seen so many technologies become obsolete.”


  • “As for the web, violence, porn, they've already seen it all.”


  •  “They can’t stand the idea of not being in the loop when something new and exciting comes out.”


  •  “But they have a short attention span and tend to skim-read rather than read properly, which can lead to difficulty at school.”


  • “This is a generation that wants to create their own company – between 50 percent and 72 percent want to run their own start-up.”


  • “They want to succeed and achieve, with 76 percent aiming to make their hobby their job.”


  • “These are children of the crisis and it shows in their outlook. Most of them say they are ‘stressed out’ by what they see as a bleak future, especially in terms of economy and environment.”


  • “They want to change the world.”


  • “Love the idea of volunteer work, which a quarter of Americans in their late teens are already doing.”


    (“Gen Z Doesn’t Really Believe in Gender”, Phys Org, February 11, 2016, http://phys.org/news/2015 02-born-digital-age.html)


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  • “Youth today don’t acknowledge borders…feel that borders, whether physical or expectations and rules, are wrong.”


  • “They ‘are looking for brands that are actively looking to change the world.’ From Oreo supporting gay rights to a taxi company educating about the signs of Ebola, companies that are doing the right thing in the world are supported by these generations.”


(“Youth culture expert explains what types of messages attract attention of Gen Y and Gen Z”, Mobile Me, December 11, 2015, http://www.mobileme you.com/stories/2015/12/11/youth culture-expert-explains-what types-of-messages-attract attention-of-gen-y-and-gen-z-1)


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  • “Members of this new generation also have an 8 second attention span, down from 12 seconds in 2000, and 11 percent of them are diagnosed with attention deficiency syndrome, compared to 7.8 percent in 2003.”


  • “They prefer to communicate in symbols such as Emoji, rather than words: It's faster, less unnecessarily precise and more intuitive.”


  • “A whopping 61 percent of U.S. high school students want to be entrepreneurs rather than employees”


  • “37.8 percent hope to ‘invent something that will change the world.’”


  • “GenZ is the most tolerant generation ever, color-blind and unconstrained by traditional gender roles.”


(Leonid Bershidsky, “Here Comes Generation Z”, Bloomberg, June 18, 2014, https://www.bloomberg.com/view/ articles/2014-06-18/nailing generation-z)


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  •  “GenZ has no patience for racism, sexism, unfair treatment …”

(https://www.efrontlearning.c om/blog/2017/08/post millennials-are-here-the ultimate- tips-on-generation z-training.html)


  • “Every generation has a defining cause that serves as the foundation for its behavior. For Boomers, it was anti-establishment. For Millennials, it was the environment. For GenZ , it is human equality.”


"Gender is no more."


  • “… 35 percent of Gen Z respondents consider themselves somewhat bisexual, with only 48 percent (A full 65 percent of millennials) identifying as completely straight … 44 percent said they always wore clothes designed for their gender.”


  • “… the number of young women who have had sex with at least one other woman has nearly tripled since the early 1990s. More men now report having had a male sexual partner as well.”


  • “… The percentage of adult Americans with bisexual experience during their lifetimes tripled between 1990 and 2016, from 3% to 11%.” (Jean M. Twenge. iGen. Simon & Schuster Inc. 2017)


The Curated Self


  • “Instead, they view their identity as a curated composition, not a revelation. Whether through their Instagram feed or by their gender expression, teens have the ability to decide who they want to be at any given point in time and how they want to share that image. All it takes to change their outward identity is a simple swipe and an upload to Instagram”


  • “A recent study found that 80% of unmarried young adult evangelical Christians have had sex.”


  • “For GenZ, instant gratification may trump any form of traditional loyalty program.” Teens are dating less.”


  • “Teens are less likely to have sex.”


  • “Teens are drinking and partying less.”


  • 95% of Gen Z use YouTube and 50% say they can’t live without it.”


  • “Which platform do you use for catching up on the news?”

    • "23% Facebook"

    • "23% YouTube"

    • "12% Twitter"


  • “…Some 13-year-olds check their social media accounts 100 times a day and are spending about nine hours a day using media for their enjoyment.”


  • “Lack of sleep is a significant risk factor for depression.”


  • “Some young men find that porn is enough to satisfy their sexual urges. Noah, 18, told the Washington Post he’d rather watch YouTube, play video games, or work than have sex. He’s a virgin, though he has watched a lot of porn. When asked if he was curious about actual sex, he said, “Not really. I’ve seen so much of it. . . . There isn’t really anything magical about it, right?”


  • “iGen’ers are more likely to support restricting speech.”


  • “More risk-adverse.”


  • “Less confident in the current economic system.”


  • “In the workplace, Generation Z expects greater flexibility and the capacity to work remotely, making a meaningful contribution to the world.” “Clinical-level depression jumped 67% among girls … compared to 20% of boys.”


  • “In 10 years time: Suicide rate for 10-14 year hold boys has doubled. The rate for girls in this age range have TRIPLED.”


  • “The suicide rate for girls ages 15-19 is now at its highest since 1975.”


  • “The rise in smartphones and social media may be two reasons why teen mental health has suffered.”


  • iGen teens spend less time with each other in person than previous generations did.”


  • “In 2016, around 13% of U.S. Teenagers ages 12-17 had at least one major depressive episode in the past year, compared to almost 8% in 2006, … Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.” (Elizabeth Bernstein, “How to Spot Teenage Depression”, The Wall Street Journal, March 5, 2018, https://www.wsj.com/articles/is-your teen-depressed-or-just-moody 1520266550)


  • “… the American Academy of Pediatrics issued updated guidelines – the … that pediatricians screen all those ages 12 and older for depression annually ...” (Elizabeth Bernstein, “How to Spot Teenage Depression”, The Wall Street Journal, March 5, 2018, https://www.wsj.com/articles/is-your teen-depressed-or-just-moody 1520266550)


This comprehensive survey compiled in 2018 will inform how you relate to your children, your students and your church ministry. Don't miss it! www.josh.org

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