People In Their 40s, 50s, And 60s Reveal What They Love About Gen Z

Generation Z refers to Americans born between 1997 and 2012. The generation that came before them is Generation Y, aka Gen Y, aka millennials (born between 1981 and 1996).

Meanwhile, those born after Gen Z are referred to as Generation Alpha or Gen A (anyone born between 2010 and 2025).

The older members of Gen Z are finishing college, entering the job market, and skilling up, while the youngest ones are still in school. That’s a pretty big difference to wrap your head around.

Broadly speaking, many people use the term ‘Zoomers’ to refer to folks younger than themselves.

In the meantime, some members of older generations are so stuck in their ways that they call anyone young ‘millennials,’ no matter when they were actually born.

There are slight overlaps between each generation, and the exact range of years might change depending on who’s doing the research. To paraphrase Captain Barbossa from The Pirates of the Caribbean, generational time frames are more what you’d call ‘guidelines’ than actual rules.

If you were born anywhere between two Gens, things can get really confusing. You can identify with either set of values more than the other, or you can pick and choose from both as you see fit. We know quite a few Zoomers who have more in common with younger millennials than their peers. Then again, we also know folks who think they were born in the wrong age because they don’t identify with many current social values.

Different generations being very critical of those that came before and after them is a tale as old as time. It’s easy to think that the social and cultural environment you grew up in is the ‘right’ or ‘only’ way of doing things. After all, it’s likely all you’ve ever known. And so, anybody who has a different perspective on work, family, and leisure is going to raise some eyebrows.

From our perspective, this sort of intergenerational criticism is pretty much unavoidable. It’ll probably always exist. However, better self-awareness and a more open mind can help all of us be more accepting of these clashes between values. Just because someone has a different philosophy in life and very different priorities does not mean that they’re ‘wrong,’ even if your first instinct is to point and judge.

For example, someone who enforces their personal boundaries more strictly/loosely at work than you is simply doing what they think is in their best interest.

Each generation faces its fair share of problems. Investopedia points out that around half of the members of Generation Z don’t make enough money yet to cover their basic living expenses. Meanwhile, more than a third have student loans that they’ll need to pay off. On the plus side, 70% are saving for retirement with employer-sponsored plans or outside the workplace. What’s more, Zoomers are starting to save for retirement much earlier than millennials (at age 19 compared to age 25).

Generation Alpha, which follows Gen Z, is thought to be the most technologically savvy and will likely be the most environmentally aware. However, it’s also facing some major challenges, such as having a reduced attention span (thanks, screens!) and focusing on remote rather than in-person socializing.

The author of the viral thread shared how they'd been seeing lots of social media posts about how Gen Z doesn't have the same values that previous generations do. "As someone who is on the cusp of being considered a millennial and a Gen Z’er, I’d talk to a lot of people online and in real life who would criticize Gen Z for holding different outlooks on work and life without trying to see things from a younger generation’s perspective. While I do believe a lot of the criticism I’ve heard is valid, I also thought to myself, 'There has to be something younger generations are doing well, even if they’re ruffling some feathers.'"

From u/jarbid16's perspective, one thing that Gen Z is doing particularly well is drawing their boundaries at work. "This is one of the things that really resonated with a lot of other Reddit users who responded to my post. It’s clear that the landscape of the workforce has changed quite dramatically over the decades and that things that were accepted as the norm back then simply aren’t normal now,” they told Bored Panda.

"One thing that I hear constantly is that 'younger generations don’t want to work hard.' I understand the sentiment behind this, but the cost of living has skyrocketed over the years, and oftentimes, hard work isn’t always rewarded with more pay/benefits. People have bills to pay, and life can feel fruitless for many when you have to work so hard to get so little in return," the OP shared their opinion.

"So many people nowadays are working several jobs just to survive, regardless of age. The cost of living is rising, while wages across the board have generally stagnated. There are a variety of other factors that contribute to this as well, one being technological advancements that made previously lucrative work sectors more or less obsolete in today’s workforce. In essence, people don’t want to overwork themselves when the results can seem very grim."

However, it's not like the youngest generations are getting everything perfectly right, either. There are some serious issues with communication and a lack of willingness to understand one another. "One thing I think Gen Z and Gen A could do better is communicate in real life. We hear this criticism a lot, but I do think social media has definitely changed the way we communicate with each other, and younger generations have embraced this almost to a fault. People will speak their minds on social media with no filter, but they often get nervous when they have to echo those sentiments with someone face to face," u/jarbid16 shared their take with Bored Panda.