The Gen Z generation is comprised of children born between 1997 and 2012 or today aged 13 to 28. A number of polls and an associated study have been performed by Walton Family Foundation focused primarily on expectations for the future and the degree for discerning possible career routes. Some general observations:
⊗ High school students primarily trust their parents for guidance about their futures after graduation but also rely heavily on teachers and other school resources.
⊗ Parents are having limited postsecondary conversations, particularly about alternatives to college or a paid job.
⊗ Gen Zs and their parents know relatively little about most postsecondary options.
⊗ Schools are an important resource for postsecondary guidance, but they are not adequately informing or preparing many students.
⊗ Despite limited knowledge and conversations, many Gen Z students are at least somewhat interested in non-college alternatives.
⊗ Most high school students, including seniors, do not feel prepared to pursue their preferred pathway.
Some statistics:
⊗ One in four high school students feel very prepared to succeed in college or
apply for a job, and those who don’t plan to pursue higher education are notably less
optimistic and prepared than their peers.
⊗ 47% of parents — including about one-third of parents of high school seniors — say they are not frequently discussing post graduation plans with their child.
⊗ Only 15% to 25% of parents know a great deal about any other postsecondary option besides college and paid salary positions.
The plight of Gen Z is like a fish knowing where to go in muddy water. Their useless government is bouncing into a dictatorship; education has been underfunded for decades and does little to prepare a student for the real world; career jobs are not only scarce, whole industries are disappearing in the arts, white color desk jobs, and iterative labor industries like factory work and truck driving; the economy is definitely in trickle down mode. Property in Hawaii is being bought up by billionaires – local citizens are being forced to migrate; job tenure is no guarantee for fringe benefits.
In 1938 the minimum wage was begun at $1.00/hour. Had the minimum wage kept up with inflation, the minimum wage would be $22.35. Today it is $7.25. If the U.S. doesn’t end up as a dictatorship, it definitely will be an oligarchy – with the help of computers.
A Gen Z stands looking across the horizon of this battered society and has to wonder, “What is my role?” . . . “What is there to believe in for a lifetime?” . . . “How will I survive?”
Smoking among Gen Z has been dropping for the last several years; Gen Z are beginning to trade in smartphones for flip phones; marriage and children are being delayed. The future is hitting them in the face.
The ‘ocean of life’ looks pretty stormy right now.
Ancient Mariner