This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/introducing-upstream-a-lifestyle-and-culture-section-of-the-daily-wire" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upstream,</a> The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.
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We’ve seen the same headlines over and over: Gen Z isn’t <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2025/aug/comment-generation-z-love-crisis">dating</a>, or <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/graphics/2024/05/17/gen-z-less-likely-get-drivers-license/73678202007/">driving</a>, or <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/01/13/lifestyle/gen-zs-breakup-with-alcohol-is-happening-much-earlier-than-past-generations/">drinking</a>, or <a href="https://www.silouhealth.com/blogs/blogs-silouhealth/the-friendship-recession-why-gen-z-is-lonelier-than-ever">making friends</a>, with record numbers of young people today <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/11/17/why-many-young-adults-in-the-us-are-still-living-with-their-parents.html">living with their parents</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/05/opinion/gen-z-work.html">refusing to build careers</a> well into adulthood. These statistics paint a grim picture of my generation, but beyond our specific cohort, they point to an overall culture of dependency that is antithetical to the free citizenry our democracy relies on — a culture that was built by the failure of our institutions, and especially our schools. 
As veteran teacher Paula Edwards (not her real name) told IW Features in a recent <a href="https://www.iwfeatures.com/documentary/the-hidden-crisis-in-new-mexicos-classrooms/">documentary</a>, “If we don’t have a literate society, we really don’t have a free society.” She recounted the abysmal classroom environment in the New Mexico public schools she has worked in, from deteriorating academic and behavioral standards to ideological indoctrination.
Edwards reached her breaking point and transitioned from teaching to coaching after a second-grade student who was not potty-trained allegedly began smearing feces on his peers when he was angry and wanted to skip his lessons. In this single anecdote alone we can identify several failures: of the state not to assess the child’s home environment, of the school to allow a child who was not potty-trained to be in a general class, and of the school not to remove him from the classroom, give him the environment he actually needs, and protect other children from being traumatized by his behaviors. It’s not the child’s responsibility to train himself in basic functions; it’s the duty of adults, who either failed him or, in the case of teachers like Edwards, were not allowed to give him the help he needed.
This is perhaps an extreme (albeit not rare) case, yet such bad outcomes as this arise precisely because of an educational philosophy that has prevailed in schools for decades, even in less difficult situations than this student’s. Generations of students have been coddled to their own detriment, being given passing grades they do not deserve and free rein to act out and hurt themselves and others in the name of “compassion.” 
Of course, there is no compassion at all in enabling students’ worst behaviors. The behavioral anarchy that has come to dominate far too many schools around the country and make teaching an impossible profession has its origins in Obama-era policies that essentially considered any form of discipline as a potential form of discrimination. While those were revoked federally during the first Trump administration, many states still have unviable policies that make disciplining students impossible and that encourage the sort of conduct that has led to educators like Edwards fleeing the teaching profession.
The Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports system, which was formally enacted by New Mexico in the last decade, after being introduced by the federal government in the 1990s, forces teachers and administrators to ignore negative behavior and reward positive behavior through prizes and tokens, which amount to “bribery,” as Edwards puts it. These gamified incentives inevitably disappear in the adult world, and yet the responsibilities of adult life remain. So then what? Students who have never acquired the discipline to succeed in school are naturally going to struggle with adult life, rendered incompetent and unable to participate fully in society as adults.
Sometimes, this type of dependency is not just passively but actively encouraged by the school system. In a particularly horrifying anecdote, Edwards told IW Features how the Bureau of Indian Education schools teach Native American children how to fill out welfare applications. Instead of teaching them to read with evidence-based methods and enabling students to lift themselves out of poverty when they grow up, Edwards said, these schools teach students a different lesson: “Be dependent for the rest of your life.”
It doesn’t have to be this way, and it shouldn’t. We have the status quo we have because we choose to tolerate it. We spend billions of dollars on education as a country as it stands, and there is nothing stopping us from redirecting that money from failed progressive endeavors to student behavior reforms and evidence-based instructional methods that actually work. As Edwards advocated, “Get your indoctrination out of the classroom and get us back to the basics. School is for getting our kids to read and write and do math.”
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Neeraja Deshpande is an Independent Women policy analyst and senior IW Features contributor.

Young student feeling disappointment, sitting alone by lockers.

Teachers Blow The Lid On What Is Happening In Schools And Why Gen Z Is Struggling

Education

Generation Z

Schools

Upstream

Congress might soon be getting a Gen Z conservative shakeup.
Michael Alfonso, 25, is seeking to replace Rep. Tom Tiffany in Wisconsin’s Seventh Congressional District, as Tiffany is running for governor in 2026. The deep red seat was previously held by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who is Alfonso’s father-in-law.
Alfonso explained what it’s like being a Gen Z candidate to The Daily Wire’s AmericaFest pre-show earlier this month.
“It&#8217;s going really well. I think everyone was worried about a 25-year-old running for Congress and everyone we&#8217;ve met, no matter how old or young, they&#8217;re excited to see someone that shows them that when the older generation is no longer here, there is still hope for the country,” he said.
He also said that Charlie Kirk’s assassination in September has served as a motivator for him to get politically active in a more direct way.
“I’ve heard it put that it was like seeing a family member die when Charlie got shot. And I think it changed a lot of paths in life. It’s the reason why I’m running for Congress sitting here, and I couldn’t be more appreciative to Turning Point for everything they do and bringing me to this event,” the Republican added, as he also spoke on a panel at the event with other Congressional candidates.
His campaign comes as multiple reports have shown that Gen Z is <a href="https://www.theupandup.us/p/gen-z-teens-conservative-shift-gallup-data" target="_blank" rel="noopener">more conservative</a> than their parents&#8217; generation, in addition to other research showing that young people are paving the way for increased church attendance, according to the <a href="https://www.barna.com/research/young-adults-lead-resurgence-in-church-attendance/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Barna Group</a>.
On the issues, he said that immigration and inflation are his top concerns.
“We need to make sure the government isn’t wasting our money on every single thing they do, and we need to make sure that the only people that are here in the United States being a burden or taking tax dollars from the system are United States citizens,” he said.
His wife, Evita Duffy-Alfonso, specifically pointed out that her decision to get married young, as well as coming from a large family, is uniquely counter-cultural.
“So we met for the first time in middle school, so we’ve known each other for a very long time, and I don’t know, I just think, why delay happiness? Why wait?” she said about meeting Alfonso. Her parents famously met on the MTV reality show “The Real World” in the 90s, and now have nine children together.
“If you find someone who you love, who shares your values, why delay that?” she continued.
“&#8217;I need to build my career or get a master’s degree before.&#8217; You put all these restrictions on yourself, and the greatest joys in your life really are your family. It’s your husband, it’s your children,” Duffy-Alfonso added. “I know this because go what my parents demonstrated for me and my siblings… I think a lot of people think that they are going to be happier replaying life, and delaying marriage, and that’s usually not the case.”

Charlie Kirk

How Charlie Kirk Is Inspiring A 25-Year-Old Republican Through His Congressional Bid

Congress

Turning Point USA

For all the attention Generation Z gets, we need to start talking about Generation Alpha while there is still time to save them from their older siblings’ dismal futures. Born between 2010 and 2024, Gen Alpha is the youngest living age demographic with its members ranging from toddlers to younger adolescents. Most still have all of high school ahead of them and none have entered the workforce as adults.
American twelfth graders, who are on the younger side of the Gen Z cohort, are at their <a href="https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/test-scores-low-reading-math-naep-d87099b6?mod=Searchresults&amp;pos=1&amp;page=1">lowest reading proficiency levels</a> on record. Our broken education system has enabled that steady decline over the last two decades as K-12 schools push forward failing students who cannot read, and college curriculum has made it possible to earn a degree <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/11/the-elite-college-students-who-cant-read-books/679945/">without reading a whole book</a>. Poor literacy levels have, of course, led to a national crisis with <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/07/05/lifestyle/gen-z-turns-to-ai-for-homework-essays-and-college-apps/">writing ability</a>.
This confluence of trends — combined with the rise of AI — risks Gen Alpha’s future success in work and in life. The good news is that the solution is found at home. Parents can make the home life more conducive to their children’s future success by prioritizing off-screen reading … yes, physical books. Reading books is vital to keeping children ahead of the AI curve. And the home is where children need to become good readers so they can go on to become good writers.
Writing is the necessary transferable skill young people must perform to apply critical thinking, self-awareness, and logic to their jobs, tasks, and everyday lives. Lack of proficiency in the classroom leads to lack of accountability and responsibility in adulthood.
It is impossible to be a good writer without being a good reader, which makes fixing reading proficiency all the more urgent for today’s elementary and middle schoolers. As <a href="https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/agentic-ai-vs-generative-ai">generative and agentic AI</a> reorganize the workforce, high social and economic status will not be won by those that can simply use AI well, but those who think better than AI and can apply the technology in the production of new knowledge.
The urgency is today. A grown adult with poor reading proficiency is already lost and will spend the rest of his life behind the curve of those that can read, write, think, and do better. That string of verbs is not a list — it is a sequence of inseverable skills necessary to achieve success. If that prognostication seems bleak, that’s because children who use AI to do schoolwork do not see the pitfall lying beyond short-term convenience.
Children&#8217;s futures may come to resemble Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World in which the lower castes of menial workers toil under the elite few who are capable of intelligent output. AI <a href="https://www.weforum.org/stories/2023/02/ai-can-catalyze-and-inhibit-your-creativity-here-is-how/">does not create</a> new ideas or knowledge; it produces and iterates content based on past information and results. It yields answers derivative of other people’s intellectual labor without activating or engaging critical reasoning skills in the user.
The solution is for children to read good books that stand the test of time and have complex sentence structure. Reading early and reading often in childhood <a href="https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/why_reading_is_important_children_brain_development#:~:text=We%20discovered%20that%20reading%20for,time%20spent%20on%20electronic%20devices.">unlocks</a> intellectual and productive potential <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/education/brief/foundational-learning">later in life</a>. Parents should replace at least some of their children’s screentime with good books. The number of books children read is less important than the quality of stories they read. They should mix non-fiction with fiction. The topics and sub-genres do not matter. It is the complement between truth in fact, and truth in expression that helps cultivate minds and critical reasoning.
Millennials are the parents of Gen Alpha and their childhoods model how to select rewarding books in a digital age filled with screentime. Millennials grew up on Reading Rainbow and Wishbone. Reading Rainbow brought children’s books to life with lively narration and Wishbone retold William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Walter Scott, Walter Irving, and other great authors. 
Parents can find worthwhile books about the animals, fantasy settings, sports, historical figures, and situations depicted in their children’s favorite shows, movies, and games. That is the strategy Reading Rainbow and Wishbone deployed: limited but enriching television content as a tool to catalyze lifelong love of reading and intellectual exploration in children. 
Technology has crushed the inner drive and desire to read, and AI is poised to turn that absence into personal failure on a mass scale. Meeting children where they are with a physical book can transition them away from complete dependence on digital technology for entertainment. Exposing children to slightly more literature can open up their worlds and increase chances for success.
I already dubbed Gen Z as the <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/gen-z-shaping-itself-into-wasted-generation">“Wasted Generation”</a> in early 2024, and that still holds true. But if nothing changes substantially, Gen Alpha will suffer from more severe and longer-lasting consequences than the arbitrary concentrated learning-loss Gen Z underwent during COVID-19.
Even with the lightning speed of President Trump’s educational reforms, it will still take years for reforms implemented today to take hold and reverse prevailing trends. Let’s focus on where we can make a long-term difference for most people. That focus needs to be on Gen Alpha. Let’s help them now while we can. Cultivating and encouraging reading at home is the best way for parents to set their children up for success in our brave new world.
* * *
Zachary Marschall, PhD is Editor-in-Chief of Leadership Institute&#8217;s Campus Reform and an adjunct assistant professor of arts administration at the University of Kentucky.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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Excited Blonde Boy Wearing VR Headset in School

What Gen Alpha Can Do To Stay Ahead Of AI

Artificial Intelligence

Books

Campus Reform

cell phones

Computer

Gen Alpha

Gen Z

Opinion

Social Media

Technology

Teenagers

The internet exploded with viral complaints about American Eagle&#8217;s latest ad campaign — featuring actress Sydney Sweeney — but the poll numbers suggest that the outrage was driven by a very small number of people whose influence is largely limited to cyberspace.
The ad campaign featured <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dunkin-donuts-hitches-ad-wagon-to-sydney-sweeney-and-the-left-melts-down">Sweeney</a> in a number of still photos and videos, wearing American Eagle jeans in several different styles. The tag-line was simple: &#8220;Sydney Sweeney has great jeans.&#8221; But critics harped on the obvious play on words and claimed that because Sweeney is white and has blonde hair and blue eyes, the ad was a Nazi-esque dogwhistle suggesting that her &#8220;genes&#8221; were superior.
Indeed, a poll from The Economist/YouGov indicated that overall, only about 12% of respondents believed the ad campaign was offensive, while the vast majority either found it clever (39%) or had no strong opinion (40%).
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
YouGov has Sweeney data &#8211; 12% of Americans find it offensive.
The gender gap is bigger than the political gap on whether the ad is “offensive” (7% of men, 17% of women)
Men are also more likely to find the ad “clever” (49% of men, 31% of women). <a href="https://t.co/SMQGsWM66S">pic.twitter.com/SMQGsWM66S</a>
— Will Jordan (@williamjordann) <a href="https://twitter.com/williamjordann/status/1955261317167608037?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 12, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Democrats (18%) were more likely than Republicans (7%) or independents (13%) to find the ads &#8220;offensive,&#8221; But even among Democrats, more found it &#8220;clever&#8221; (22%) than &#8220;offensive.&#8221; Far more independents (38%) and Republicans (57%) said that they&#8217;d found the ad to be &#8220;clever.&#8221;
The gender gap was also pronounced, with 17% of women saying that the ads were &#8220;offensive&#8221; compared to only 7% of men who said the same. On the opposite side, nearly one third of the women polled (31%) said the ads were &#8220;clever&#8221; compared to nearly half of the men (49%).
By race, black Americans were more likely to find the ads &#8220;offensive,&#8221; but only slightly. According to the data, 16% of black Americans found it so, compared to 12% of white Americans and only 7% of Hispanic Americans. Across all three demographics, more found the ads to be &#8220;clever&#8221;: 21% of black Americans; 43% of white Americans; and 40% of Hispanic Americans.
The poll was conducted between from August 9-11, and posed the questions to 1,635 adults in the United States

US-ENTERTAINMENT-MEDIA-MUSIC-FESTIVAL-SXSW

By The Numbers: Only 12% Found Sydney Sweeney Ad ‘Offensive,’ But Democrats Didn’t Get The Joke

By The Numbers: Only 12% Found Sydney Sweeney Ad 'Offensive,' But Democrats Didn't Get The Joke 

advertising

Genes

Media

Politics

Sydney Sweeney

A majority of young men support restricting access to pornography, according to a new <a href="https://www.americansurveycenter.org/research/a-cultural-crossroads-americas-uncertain-future-amidst-enduring-discontent-and-rising-disconnection/?mkt_tok=NDc1LVBCUS05NzEAAAGbkvewKzlBksy5UkP8DK3ZgRteqCvUlLg6RRzvNoAw09KIInAbzFQuPQL0HeCMPUibHA3Fz92YAMuG_OzHJyBMDqSemLVT1DGE3tV34ZM32Jrf1cE">survey</a> by the Survey Center on American Life.
The survey, which includes a number of different topics concerning the opinions of everyday Americans and their satisfaction with the current state of the country, details the declining support of pornography among Gen Z men.
According to the survey, 64% of men under the age of 25 support making online pornography more difficult to access.
“In 2013, young men were divided—about half (51 percent) favored making it more difficult to access pornography online, while just about as many (40 percent) opposed this policy,” the survey found. “Today, six in 10 young men say they believe we should make accessing pornography online more difficult.”
This comes just weeks after the Supreme Court upheld a Texas law requiring consumers to provide age verification to gain access to commercial porn sites. The Texas measure was enacted in 2023 for the purpose of protecting children from pornographic content, requiring every user to provide proof of age in order to access the sites. The 6-3 vote marks the first time the court has required this of adults for the purpose of protecting minors. A total of 19 states currently have active age verification laws for porn websites and several other states have similar bills pending.
The shift among Gen Z men demonstrates a staggering turn in generational opinion, as The Daily Wire&#8217;s newest talent, Isabel Brown, wrote in a Thursday X post.
“WOW. Culture is changing.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
WOW. Culture is changing. <a href="https://t.co/7B9yeO00G5">https://t.co/7B9yeO00G5</a>
&mdash; Isabel Brown (@theisabelb) <a href="https://twitter.com/theisabelb/status/1943349571284787709?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 10, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“That’s good news!” said one commenter beneath Brown’s post. “Maybe in a generation or so, we can make pornography illegal again?”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
That&#39;s good news! Maybe in a generation or so, we can make pornography illegal again?
&mdash; C.F. Dalton (His Lordship/His Majesty) (@cfdalton1) <a href="https://twitter.com/cfdalton1/status/1943350080125219026?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 10, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Gen Z men agree in large part with men over the age of 65, 73% of whom support a pornography restriction, while under half of men between the ages of 25 and 54 remain in favor.

Fingers tapping smartphone screen

Gen Z Men Are Turning Away From Porn

Pornography

Social Issues

Generation Z&#8217;s efforts to be financially independent are slowed by their mounting personal debt, a problem that appears only to be getting worse for the youngest adults.
Gen Z young adults in their early to mid-20s, most of whom have just entered the workforce or are trying to do so, are plagued by stubbornly low wages and record inflation over the past few years, pushing them into debt, The Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/personal-finance/gen-z-credit-card-debt-inflation-2f2f927e" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Those born between 1997 and 2012 are generally considered to be part of Generation Z.
Many turn to credit cards just to cover the basics like food and rent.
For young adults 22 to 24, the average credit card balance was $2,834 in the last quarter of 2023, according to credit-reporting agency TransUnion. Back in 2013, the average balance for this group was only $2,248, adjusted for inflation.
Rent is likely the main driver of young people&#8217;s climbing debt. It is now <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/its-now-often-cheaper-to-rent-than-buy-property#">cheaper</a> to rent than to buy property.
Thanks to rising housing prices and mortgage rates, renting a two-bedroom residence is cheaper than buying that property for about 89% of Americans, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20231128140139/https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2023/11/28/is-it-cheaper-to-rent-or-buy-property" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to a November analysis by The Economist.
In March, the median rent in the U.S. was $1,987, up nearly 22% compared to the past four years, <a href="https://www.rent.com/research/average-rent-price-report/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to Rent, an online rental marketplace that targets young adults.
Meanwhile, wages have not increased nearly that much.
Last year, the median annual wage for recent college graduates was $60,000, not much higher than $58,858 in 2020, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/personal-finance/gen-z-credit-card-debt-inflation-2f2f927e" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to Federal Reserve of New York data.
Meanwhile, after the pandemic, credit card companies made it easier for people to get credit cards. This led to more Gen Z young adults opening accounts — they were more likely to have at least one credit card compared with millennials a decade ago, according to data from TransUnion.
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During the pandemic, many people&#8217;s credit scores, including Gen Z&#8217;s, rose as stimulus checks hit bank accounts and many places to spend money remained temporarily shuttered. However, rising interest rates have driven down both Gen Z&#8217;s and millennials&#8217; credit scores since the pandemic.
Student debt is another huge debt driver among today&#8217;s young adults. Many leftist loan holders demand taxpayers foot the bill for their loan forgiveness. At the same time, critics blame former students for taking on an unreasonable amount of debt at 18, even though, in many cases, their parents assured them that it was a good investment and did not predict the soaring inflation of the last few years.
This confluence of financial stressors is causing young people to delay marriage, having children, and homeownership until they can support themselves, not to mention dependents.

Financial stress

Gen Z Watching Their Debt Climb Amid Soaring Rent, Food Prices

Debt Forgiveness

Economy

Millennials

Student Loans

U.S.

One of the world&#8217;s most popular board games is being altered to be less competitive and more &#8220;inclusive&#8221; to appeal to young people.
Scrabble&#8217;s parent company Mattel announced the move Tuesday, the first major change in 75 years.
The new version will involve “a second side to the board that is collaborative and faster-paced to make gameplay more accessible for anyone who finds word games intimidating,” Mattel said in a press release, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/09/business/scrabble-together-game-scli-intl-gbr/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to CNN.
The classic word game will debut a new way to play the game called &#8220;Scrabble Together&#8221; on the flip side of the game board. The other side will have the original game.
Scrabble Together was designed to appeal to a younger generation of players who are less interested in competition. Mattel <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/09/business/scrabble-together-game-scli-intl-gbr/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> it conducted research that showed Gen Z board gamers in Britain were less competitive than older generations.
“The game speaks to a trend in younger people who want to avoid competitive games, instead favouring teamwork and collaboration working towards a fun goal together,” said Brett Smitheram, who is the current number one Scrabble player in the UK and the 2016 World Scrabble Champion, as part of the statement.
The new version <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/04/09/lifestyle/scrabble-makes-historic-change-for-first-time-in-75-years/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">will have</a> goal cards rather than scoring. It will also have helper cards with prompts and clues as well as an option to play on teams. It will also be a shorter game overall.
“The way we use words is constantly evolving and so is Scrabble, which is why the iconic game has created a second side to the board that is collaborative and faster-paced to make gameplay more accessible,” Mattel <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/04/09/lifestyle/scrabble-makes-historic-change-for-first-time-in-75-years/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
In the new version, goal cards have different challenge levels and offer challenges like, “Play a horizontal word,” “play a three-letter word,” or “play a word that touches the edge of the board.”
The winner is the player who completes 20 challenges. The loser is the player who uses all their helper cards without completing a challenge.
Scrabble was invented in 1938 and has become one of the most popular board games in the world over the better part of a century.
“Scrabble has truly stood the test of time as one of the most popular board games in history, and we want to ensure the game continues to be inclusive for all players,” Ray Adler, vice president and global head of games for Mattel <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/04/09/lifestyle/scrabble-makes-historic-change-for-first-time-in-75-years/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> the New York Post.
“For anyone who’s ever thought ‘word games aren’t for me’, or felt a little intimidated by the classic game, Scrabble Together mode is an ideal option,” Adler said. “Scrabble Together Mode continues to celebrate the wonder of words just as the Classic version does, but thanks to its exciting new co-operative and dynamic gameplay, it’s more accessible and brings people together.”
The new version of the game will be available in Europe but not in the U.S. since Mattel does not hold the license there.

Family playing scrabble at dining table

Classic Board Game Dumbed Down To Be More ‘Inclusive,’ Less ‘Intimidating’ To Young People

Classic Board Game Dumbed Down To Be More 'Inclusive,' Less 'Intimidating' To Young People

Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

Generation Z and younger millennials have the misfortune of being ready to buy a home amid a prohibitively expensive housing market.
As the youngest generation of adults looks to buy their first home, they&#8217;re finding it&#8217;s often cheaper to just keep renting than to invest in a mortgage right now.
Some are waiting out the unwelcoming housing market with a seemingly endless cycle of rent payments, but some are biting the bullet and purchasing now.
&#8220;We bought so our money wouldn&#8217;t go to someone else&#8217;s mortgage,&#8221; a Gen Z homeowner and new mother of a baby boy in Virginia told The Daily Wire.
She and her husband wanted to own land, she said. They plan on putting a few extra thousand dollars toward the principal of their mortgage every year, and they also invested in a larger down payment to get a lower fixed interest rate.
&#8220;There are ways to manipulate the system, but again, you usually need some money up front to do so,&#8221; she said.
She added that there is &#8220;a lot of ignorance&#8221; among young home buyers.
&#8220;Every young homeowner I have spoken to looks like a deer in the headlights when I mention how crazy it is that your interest rate can end up costing you at least double the cost of the house across 30 years,&#8221; she said. &#8220;And most people don&#8217;t realize they are paying mostly interest during the early mortgage years and the bulk of the principal later on. Works great for the loaners.&#8221;
Despite the challenges, there have been big upsides to owning a home, she said.
&#8220;Homeownership has made us feel unrestricted in our homemaking and privacy,&#8221; the mom said.
A Gen Z man who is getting married this summer in the Washington, D.C., area said he is planning to wait a year or two before buying a house. His fiancée, a younger millennial already owns a condo, and they plan to hang onto that property as the value goes up, although they hope to move into a second home once they have their first child.
&#8220;A medium to large-sized house is pretty much guaranteed to be a million bucks,&#8221; he told The Daily Wire. &#8220;The &#8216;350k or lower&#8217; dream is kind of out the window &#8230; After a quick glance at the market a couple months ago, it looks like the expectation is 700k or more, and that&#8217;s before all that yucky interest.&#8221;
Home prices <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/04/housing-affordability-crisis-states-00150463#:~:text=Income%20Housing%20Coalition.-,Home%20prices%20are%20up%2047%20percent%20since%20January%202020%2C%20and,and%20fewer%20people%20over%20time." target="_blank" rel="noopener">are up</a> 47% since the beginning of 2020, while rent is up more than 20%. Homelessness has spiked as well, rising 12% in 2022, <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/04/housing-affordability-crisis-states-00150463#:~:text=Income%20Housing%20Coalition.-,Home%20prices%20are%20up%2047%20percent%20since%20January%202020%2C%20and,and%20fewer%20people%20over%20time." target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to data from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Renting a two-bedroom residence is now actually cheaper than buying that property for about 89% of Americans, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20231128140139/https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2023/11/28/is-it-cheaper-to-rent-or-buy-property" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to a November analysis by The Economist.
Back in 2020, that was true for only 16% of Americans.
Meanwhile, the housing crash that many potential home buyers <a href="https://www.inman.com/2023/11/28/35-of-americans-hope-the-housing-market-will-crash-in-2024/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hoped</a> for does not look likely to happen. In November, nearly half of Americans, 44% said they thought the housing market could crash in the next year, according to a LendingTree consumer survey. Economists say they do not expect a housing crash either this year or even in 2025.
In fact, house prices are expected to keep rising as much as 4.1% this year, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/housing-market-predictions-2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Mortgage prices are expected to dip but not by much, and rent prices will likely remain about the same due to a glut of newly built apartment buildings with low demand.
Nevertheless, the tough market has not stopped millennials and even some Gen Z-ers from buying homes, perhaps simply because they are fed up with waiting for the market to turn in their favor.
About 38% of all home buyers were millennials last year, <a href="https://www.nar.realtor/research-and-statistics/research-reports/home-buyer-and-seller-generational-trends" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to a report from the National Association of Realtors, up from 28% in the previous year. Among younger millennials ages 25 to 33, 75% were buying a home for the first time.
The younger Gen Z buyers ages 18 to 24 made up only 3% of home buyers last year, showcasing both the difficulty of breaking into the housing market at a young age as well as the tendency of today&#8217;s young adults to wait before tying themselves down to one property.
Baby Boomers, the wealthiest generation is also contributing to the housing shortage by staying put in their current homes, reluctant to lose the lower mortgage rates they locked in during less expensive years. Previously, older generations would typically move into smaller homes as they aged, freeing up inventory for younger families, but nearly 40% of Boomers have lived in their home for at least 20 years, <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/blame-baby-boomers-housing-shortage-redfin-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to Redfin.
This shortage is causing any property that does go on the market to sell quickly at very high prices, often above the asking price.
Despite the daunting circumstances, some younger buyers remain optimistic, although they have adjusted their expectations.
The engaged Gen Z-er said he remains hopeful that he and his fiancée will find something they both love.
&#8220;I basically just want a three-bedroom house with a large backyard and some quiet. It exists, but it&#8217;s just a lot more than I thought it was,&#8221; he said. &#8220;My plan is to put a really big down payment on whatever we get.&#8221;

Home for sale with real estate sign

Gen Z, Young Millennials Debate Endless Rent Or Sky-High Mortgages

Housing

Inflation

Readers Pass

Generation Z is riddled with mental health issues, but some have doubts that more therapy is really the answer.
Gen Z, often defined as young people between ages 12 and 27 has worse mental health, lower self-confidence, and generally more dissatisfaction with life than older generations, one study <a href="https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/news/inclusion-equity-diversity/the-least-resilient-demographic-alive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found</a> last year.
Overall, only 33% of young adults say their mental health is &#8220;excellent&#8221; or &#8220;good&#8221; compared to 48% of other adults, according to the study. Similarly, another survey from 2022 <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/sustainable-inclusive-growth/future-of-america/how-does-gen-z-see-its-place-in-the-working-world-with-trepidation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found</a> that Americans from 18 to 24 report high rates of mental health challenges, impediments to effective work, and worries about the future.
A whopping 55% of Gen Z young adults 18 to 24 also say they have either been diagnosed with or have received treatment for mental illness, well above the rate of older groups, the 2022 survey found.
The pandemic also notably increased the mental health crisis among both young adults and children.
Author Abigail Shrier posited recently that the youngest generation might be less resilient because they are encouraged to focus on their bad feelings under the guise of working them out.
&#8220;Millennials thought they could do anything. They were the Mark Zuckerberg generation,&#8221; Shrier <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z72hgYk-5iI" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> during an appearance on Joe Rogan&#8217;s podcast last month on the release day for her latest book, &#8220;Bad Therapy: Why the Kids Aren&#8217;t Growing Up.&#8221;
&#8220;We&#8217;re not seeing that with these young people. They don&#8217;t want to be in charge. They&#8217;re afraid,&#8221; Shrier said.
Therapy, she suggested, might not be helping as much as we think it is.
Shrier cited studies where teens who were taught coping techniques for emotional regulation became even sadder and more anxious.
&#8220;The reason was regularly ruminating on your bad feelings can make you feel worse,&#8221; Shrier said. &#8220;The amazing story of human history is — doesn&#8217;t mean it&#8217;s not painful, but — of resilience. They get on. They aren&#8217;t permanently suffering with mental illness.&#8221;
To be fair, some of Gen Z&#8217;s anxieties are backed in reality, such as their mounting concerns about their financial future, but this is all the more reason therapy might not be the answer to dealing with these outside problems.
Inflation has spiked over the last several years, and wage growth has not kept up. Housing prices continue to rise, making rent unaffordable in many areas for entry level workers and putting home ownership out of reach of even young people with established careers. When Gen Z looks back at their parents&#8217; and grandparents&#8217; generations they wonder whether they will ever experience financial security in the same way.
Only 37% of Gen Z workers said they believe most people in the country have economic opportunities, a data point that showcases the generation&#8217;s potent economic pessimism, the 2022 survey found. About 26% of Gen Z workers said they think their pay does not allow them a good quality of life, compared to 20% of older workers. A whopping 77% of Gen Z workers said they were looking for a new job, nearly double the rate of older workers.
Dovetailing with Gen Z&#8217;s pessimism about their financial future, they also tend to distrust political and societal institutions, including Congress, the news, the presidency, police, and large technology companies, a Gallup study from last year <a href="https://news.gallup.com/opinion/gallup/510395/gen-voices-lackluster-trust-major-institutions.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">showed</a>. &#8220;Science&#8221; is the only institution trusted by a majority of Gen Z young people.
This distrust seems to grow as young people grow up and approach their early 20s — younger Gen Z kids ages 12 to 18 who are still in K-12 school are more trusting of institutions than those over 18.
Against this challenging economic backdrop, the newest adult generation&#8217;s lack of motivation is somewhat understandable.
However, at the same time, a slew of mental conditions have become popular content on social media including Tourettes Syndrome, ADHD, autism, anxiety, and depression. Many young people are eager to diagnose themselves and find community online with others who supposedly share their trendy condition.
While some may indeed have these conditions, critics say a dose of good, old-fashioned tough love — and maybe a social media detox — could help steer those who wrongly self-diagnosed towards a more fulfilling purpose.
On the bright side, Gen Z is <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90842227/gen-z-not-experience-imposter-syndrome" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> less likely to suffer from imposter syndrome at work, and there are signs this generation could be primed to be more optimistic and mentally healthy given the right circumstances.
Some Gen Z members <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90842227/gen-z-not-experience-imposter-syndrome" target="_blank" rel="noopener">say</a> they are eager to harness the power of social media to start influential movements, but certain things are extremely important to them including higher starting salaries and flexibility in work scheduling.
Gen Z is the largest generation in the world, making up about 32% of the 7.7 billion people on earth. They are more numerous than their older siblings the millennials and even bigger than the huge baby boomer generation.
There may not be a silver bullet to fix all their problems, but their success or failure will have an enormous effect on the future.

Rear view of woman looking out to city through window

Gen Z Has The Worst Mental Health, But Is More Therapy The Answer?

Anxiety

Depression

Health Care

Mental Health

Therapy

A popular Florida realtor explained how hard it has become for today&#8217;s younger generation to live a middle class lifestyle, declaring that the old American dream no longer exists.
Freddie Smith, an Orlando realtor with a popular TikTok <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@fmsmith319" target="_blank" rel="noopener">account</a> where he posts about the financial struggles of millennials and Generation Z to his 422,000 followers, said young people need a much higher salary than their parents did to live the same lifestyle.
&#8220;A lot of us grew up middle class, and we watched what middle class was in the 80s and 90s as millennials. And nowadays, what has moved the goalpost more than anything is the housing market,&#8221; Smith <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/the-old-american-dream-died-realtor-details-salary-needed-to-buy-a-home-afford-a-middle-class-life-in-2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Fox News this week.
Smith explained that younger Americans trying to start their lives are often priced out of the housing market.
&#8220;I think most of us in America would define the middle class as somebody who can work a 40-hour-a-week career and can have the income to purchase the average home in America,&#8221; Smith said.
Smith said that a salary as low as $60,000 would have been enough to qualify to buy a home just a few years ago. Now though, the average house price sits around $400,000 or more, meaning people have to make about $120,000 even just to qualify and have a chance at buying a normal house.
Another issue for young people is the crippling debt many face such as student loans, which can be more than $1,000 a month.
&#8220;The millennials, they&#8217;re the pinched generation where college essentially stopped working for most. The debt piled up, and the old American dream died, and we got left holding the bag,&#8221; Smith said.
Besides higher rent costs eating up 30% or 40% of people&#8217;s incomes and student loans taking even more, having children can entail thousands a month for daycare if both parents need to work.
All of these factors make it difficult for young adults to save for a down payment on a home, qualify for a home, and even make monthly mortgage payments after they purchase one, not to mention eventually paying off their home.
Spiking inflation has also contributed to the cost of living woes, particularly for young people who are dealing with these extra expenses.
&#8220;If you are someone who bought a house before 2020 and you have it paid off or you have a 3% interest rate, you are not burdened by the housing costs like the 2024 adults are now,&#8221; Smith said.
As of September, the median home price in the country was $412,000, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/advisor/mortgages/real-estate/median-home-prices-by-state/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to Redfin, a 2% increase over 2022.
In California, the median home price was much higher at $787,000 back in the fall.

For sale by owner sign hangs in front of Long Island house

‘Old American Dream Died’: Realtor Describes How Millennials, Gen Z Struggle To Be Middle Class

'Old American Dream Died': Realtor Describes How Millennials, Gen Z Struggle To Be Middle Class

Could Generation Z — the generation currently in their teens and early 20s — be finding religion?
This week, a TikTok from the fall resurfaced showing a young girl who looks to be in her early 20s sitting alone in a large, empty church with her knees up as the sound of someone playing piano echoes through the cavernous space.
&#8220;2023 hit so hard I had to turn to religion,&#8221; reads the caption of the <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@dandanthexanman/video/7293440492614847777?_r=1&amp;_t=8ivWbBWsofu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">video</a>, which was originally posted back in October.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
is the next vibe shift a Gen Z religious revival? 
this tiktok has 2.1M views &amp; 382k likes, with comments like:
“I started praying” “I got baptized” “I went to church last week for the first time in my life”
what’s going on? 🤔 <a href="https://t.co/IWbfXwFkGu">pic.twitter.com/IWbfXwFkGu</a>
&mdash; Danielle Vermeer (@DLVermeer) <a href="https://twitter.com/DLVermeer/status/1735711025087873040?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 15, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
A quick look at the comments casts doubt on the idea that the post might just be a joke.
The video has a whopping 385,000 likes and more than 8,000 comments, most of which are from other Zoomers saying they too have wandered into churches recently.
&#8220;For real. I went to a church last week for the first time in my life. I get it now,&#8221; someone wrote.
&#8220;No bc low-key this,&#8221; wrote another. (That means &#8220;I kind of identify with this,&#8221; in Gen Z speak for those of you who are not chronically online.)
&#8220;The way I went from basically atheist to praying every day and going to church w my family now,&#8221; posted another.
&#8220;Nah bc I randomly started praying consistently,&#8221; another wrote.
&#8220;So relatable I left the church at 15 and now I&#8217;m back as an adult because I&#8217;m so scared of life,&#8221; one girl wrote.
Two commenters said they were just recently crying and looking up nearby churches. Others expressed relief that they were not alone in their desire to become religious.
&#8220;This wasn&#8217;t only me oh my gosh?? I became religious this year and go to church every week. Loving it,&#8221; someone wrote.
&#8220;Ok so it&#8217;s not just me? I literally started the process of becoming catholic,&#8221; someone wrote.
&#8220;So is this a collective thing? Cus it&#8217;s so bad that I even went to church yesterday, I need a reason to keep going on life,&#8221; someone wrote.
At least four people commented that they recently got baptized. Several said they recently returned to the Catholic Church, and one said they &#8220;literally went to confession the other day.&#8221;
Other commenters wrote that they were thinking of going to church for &#8220;some sort of direction in my life,&#8221; and one girl said a &#8220;breakup pushed me to church.&#8221;
At one point, the girl who posted the video commented, &#8220;Imma keep showing up.&#8221;
Comments like this, written in telltale Zoomer lingo, go on and on. Just when you think the hate comments are around the corner, more Zoomers are posting that they went to church.
A few other TikToks <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@mandymalake/video/7298004187340721441?_r=1&amp;_t=8ix2qKEexP5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">show</a> young people saying the same thing — that they started going to church last year, although those videos got fewer views.
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On paper, Gen Z is the least religious generation. Nearly half, 49% of Zoomers say they do not have a religious affiliation, <a href="https://religioninpublic.blog/2023/04/03/gen-z-and-religion-in-2022/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to a 2022 YouGov survey.
However, about a year ago another survey noted a surprising increase in young people saying they believe in God. About a third of people age 18 to 25 say they believe, more than doubt, the existence of a higher power, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-surprising-surge-of-faith-among-young-people-424220bd" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to a survey from the Springtide Research Institute. That&#8217;s up from only about a quarter of young people in 2021.
While belief in God does not necessarily translate to joining organized religion, some Zoomers commented on TikTok that they were drawn to church for the &#8220;peace and quiet.&#8221;
Back in April, a Los Angeles rabbi <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-surprising-surge-of-faith-among-young-people-424220bd" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> the Wall Street Journal that more young adults were showing up to Friday night services at the synagogue.
In many more traditional Catholic parishes, the churches are <a href="https://www.ncregister.com/blog/3-reasons-why-young-catholics-love-latin-mass" target="_blank" rel="noopener">filled</a> with young people, including older Gen Z-ers who are already young parents with small children themselves.
Another driving force in these young people&#8217;s turn to religion could be Gen Z&#8217;s rampant anxiety.
More than 40% of 18 to 26-year-olds are diagnosed with a mental health condition, and 90% of the time it&#8217;s anxiety, <a href="https://www.harmonyhit.com/state-of-gen-z-mental-health/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to a survey by Harmony Healthcare IT.
The pandemic sent the most anxious generation&#8217;s mental health further into a tailspin, isolating them and intensifying worries about finances and their loved ones.
In response to life&#8217;s stressors, some Zoomers say they <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-surprising-surge-of-faith-among-young-people-424220bd" target="_blank" rel="noopener">are</a> searching for relief in something beyond themselves and that faith provides an answer.
Belief in God “gives you a reason for living and some hope,” an Iowa college student told the Journal last year. Some of the TikTok commenters said they ended up in church for this reason as well.
Whatever the reason Gen Z-ers are ending up in church, clearly the next generation has the same age-old longing for peace, meaning, and truth.

Last Minute Christmas Shopping in Birmingham

Is Gen Z Going Back To Church?

Catholicism

Christianity

Culture

Jewish

Religion

Veteran actress Jodie Foster made it clear that she is not impressed with the work ethic of members of &#8220;Gen Z,&#8221; complaining during a recent interview that they would show up late if they weren&#8217;t &#8220;feeling it&#8221; and did not make an effort to sound professional in email correspondence.
The two-time Oscar-winner (for 1989&#8217;s &#8220;The Accused&#8221; and 1991&#8217;s &#8220;The Silence of the Lambs&#8221;) spoke to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/jan/06/jodie-foster-interview-true-detective" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Guardian</a> about her upcoming projects, and the topic turned to her experience thus far working with younger generations.
Foster was just 15 when she received her first Academy Award nomination (for the 1977 film &#8220;Taxi Driver&#8221;), and she told the outlet that her own experiences growing up both in the public eye and in a tough business like the film industry was part of the reason she chose so often to reach out to younger actors and actresses.
&#8220;Well, I’m pretty fun. I mean – I don’t take anything seriously. I make jokes all the time,&#8221; she said.
&#8220;They need to learn how to relax, how to not think about it so much, how to come up with something that’s theirs. I can help them find that, which is so much more fun than being, with all the pressure behind it, the protagonist of the story,&#8221; Foster added. &#8220;I do a lot of reaching out to young actresses. I’m compelled. Because it was hard growing up.&#8221;
But she also noted that she occasionally found herself irritated by some of the workplace habits she saw in the younger generations.
&#8220;They’re really annoying, especially in the workplace,&#8221; she said of Gen Z in particular. &#8220;They’re like, &#8216;Nah, I’m not feeling it today, I’m gonna come in at 10.30am.&#8217; Or, like, in emails, I’ll tell them this is all grammatically incorrect, did you not check your spelling? And they’re like, &#8216;Why would I do that, isn’t that kind of limiting?'&#8221;

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