How Millennials and Gen Z Money Worries Are Different Than Those of Older Generations

According to a recent worldwide survey by Deloitte, financial uncertainty defines both Gen Z and Millennials’ experience. Over half of each generation surveyed lives paycheck-to-paycheck (56% and 55%, respectively), and 30% of Gen Z and 32% of Millennials do not feel financially secure. High housing costs, inflation, and salary stagnation are just a few factors contributing to these feelings. Saving for future events — such as buying a house, beginning a family, or creating a retirement fund — feels unrealistic for so many young people.

Yet despite issues like salary stagnation, the survey also shows that almost 90% of Gen Z and Millennials give their careers top priority. For these generations, work is more than just a salary; young people want to contribute something significant to the world and match their career goals with moral principles. According to Deloitte, many find that having a professional purpose gives their work lives meaning and helps them resist burnout.

Finding meaningful occupations, though, is not easy. The financial struggles these generations meet offer little opportunity for personal development or long-term goal investment and make young people stay in jobs that don’t satisfy them or fit their ideals because they need a job to survive. Particularly when young people work for employers that prioritize profit over the environment, people, or other causes important to employees, they may feel disappointed.

What’s more, Gen Z and Millennials are now contending with the pervasive impact of generative AI. This technology presents new obstacles to work stability. For example, generative artificial intelligence can automate jobs often carried out by entry-level workers, making it more difficult for recent graduates to find meaningful employment or professional development. Among more established workers, although artificial intelligence may help increase their output, it also raises questions about job displacement, which forces employees to constantly adapt and reskill. The continued uncertainty regarding which jobs might become obsolete owing to artificial intelligence causes younger workers stress, contributing to their general uneasiness in their professional lives.

In addition to job security, financial concerns around raising a family are also significant to these generations. In its September 2024 Consumer Spending & Savings Index report, the insurance company MassMutual reported that nearly a quarter (23%) of Millenials and Gen Z currently without children do not plan to become parents, primarily due to financial reasons. And that’s for good reason: Over time, according to the consumer finance company LendingTree, it costs families about $237,482 to raise a child from birth to their 18th birthday.

“With today’s financial stressors, it is understandable why there is a growing trend among young adults to prioritize financial security over parenthood,” Paul LaPiana, Head of MassMutual Brand, Product & Affiliated Distribution, said in the Index’s press release. “This shift reflects a broader understanding of the importance of financial stability and independence in achieving long-term goals that every generation must reckon with.”

Financial stability, growth, and the flexibility to pursue a meaningful life define financial security for Gen Z and Millennials rather than only a consistent paycheck. These generations are questioning conventional ideas of job happiness and pushing for businesses to provide work-life balance, inclusion, a feeling of purpose, and reasonable pay. Companies that encourage purpose-driven cultures and help their employees tackle financial uncertainty – including providing opportunities for growth, open financial and environmental policies, and mental health support – will probably find themselves blessed with devoted, involved staff.

Gen Z and Millennials are helping shape the future workplace as they advocate for financial stability and purpose-driven professions. Their advocacy of openness, fairness, and purpose will likely influence the nature of employment going forward, possibly helping every generation in the process. For now, though, the weight still rests on them to negotiate these financial and job satisfaction obstacles by using their resiliency and inventiveness to forge a more satisfying road forward.