So many people claim that Gen Z is the laziest generation ever. While it might seem like just an opinion, there is some data that could suggest it’s actually a fact, including how much time this generation spends online, and how many don’t have a job or school right now. There are also the things they say they care about when it comes to work. Let’s find out why Gen Z might actually be the laziest generation in history.
Who Gen Z is and when they were born
For starters, we’ll quickly go through who this generation actually is. Gen Z refers to those born somewhere between the mid-1990s and 2010. Such a wide classification means that some members of Gen Z are still in school, and some have only recently stepped into early jobs. Quite a large number of them are in high school or college.
All of this adds up to a rather young, yet also rather big, group of people, with population estimates showing that Gen Z already represents more than a quarter of the U.S. population. A lot of them have become a growing share of the workplace in several countries, even while they haven’t hit their mid-20s yet.
Digital natives and heavy screen time
One thing that practically everyone agrees on with Gen Z is that they’re a generation that spends a lot of time on screens. Phones are this generation’s go-to option for everything, whether that’s entertainment, keeping up with friends, or even doing schoolwork.
Government data also supports this. Teens in the 15–19 age range count as the younger half of Gen Z, and they spend around 1.3 hours a day gaming or using a computer for fun. But for adults aged 75+, the number sits closer to around 26 minutes. Such a gap says quite a lot about how Gen Z spends their downtime.
There’s also a clear decline in reading for fun in the U.S. In 2003, approximately 28% of Americans said they read for pleasure on any given day, but twenty years later, that number fell to 16%. The biggest dip happened among younger groups. Clearly, this generation would much rather spend time scrolling on their phones than doing something productive like reading.
More free time, less prestige
People’s values change all the time, and Gen Z is no different. Over the decades, younger generations have put more of an emphasis on free time, and while this trend didn’t start with Gen Z, it certainly didn’t slow down once they arrived. The data consistently shows that high-school seniors, including the ones who later became Gen Z adults, rank relaxation and personal time higher than past generations did at the same age.
Gen Z’s attitude to work itself is also quite important. Studies have found that the younger generation tends to rank interesting tasks and mental challenge over things like prestige or status. They also care more about fair pay than titles or a sense of “being important” at work, with many of this generation refusing to do work that requires extra emotional labor.
Such an attitude towards work makes this generation seem less ambitious than those who came before, as they were proud of making their career part of their identity. But Gen Z’s preferences lean toward convenience and comfort over climbing ladders.
Youth employment and time spent out of work or study
Another important reason why some people think Gen Z is lazy is the sheer number of young people who aren’t in school, working, or training (NEET). In most developed countries, around one in ten Gen Zers are NEET, and in the UK, it’s about one in eight young adults. The numbers haven’t improved much over the last few years.
This clear gap in school or work makes it seem as though Gen Z is drifting or checked out of life, despite the fact that they may have valid reasons for being this way. Some Gen Zers are struggling financially, and some are dealing with mental health issues. Others simply don’t think that school or early career jobs are worthwhile.
But the end result is the same. They have more downtime and fewer structured responsibilities, giving more support to the idea of them being a lazy generation.
A generation measured in numbers
When you add it all up, like this generation’s love of free time and low interest in prestige, the higher NEET rates and more screen-based daily routines, it’s easy to see why so many people label Gen Z as being lazy.
They’re a generation that grew up differently and who work differently from other groups. They also rest differently and spend their free time differently from anyone before them. Whether that’s laziness or just a new way of living is up to whoever’s looking at the data.