The top concerns for Gen Z and millennials - and what they think of AI

Both Gen Z and millennials are less optimistic about their financial situation improving in the next 12 months compared to last year. Photo / 123RF

Cost of living remains the biggest concern for New Zealand millennials and Gen Z, according to a new global survey.

But both generations appear a little more positive about the economic situation and their mental health.

Deloitte’s 2024 Gen Z and Millennial Survey – which surveyed 501 Kiwis – found 56 per cent of Gen Zs and 72 per cent of millennials ranked cost of living as their top concern.

“For the third year in a row we’re seeing cost of living cited as the number one societal concern, and in much higher numbers here at home compared to the rest of the world,” Deloitte NZ partner Lauren Foster said.

“While there is cautious optimism that circumstances may improve, financial insecurity is driving a lot of issues for our young people.”

Globally, the cost of living was the main concern for both Gen Zs (34 per cent) and millennials (40 per cent).

Beyond the cost of living, Kiwi Gen Zs next concerns were mental health of their generation (24 per cent), climate change (21 per cent), healthcare/disease prevention (20 per cent) and crime and personal safety (18 per cent).

For millennials, crime and personal safety was the second biggest concern (28 per cent), followed by mental health of their generation (20 per cent), economic growth (19 per cent) and income inequality/wealth distribution (17 per cent).

Both generations were more upbeat about the overall economic situation improving compared to last year’s survey, though the number was still low.

Twenty-seven per cent of Gen Z said they expect the economy to improve in the next 12 months (up from 24 per cent in 2023), while 24 per cent of millennials felt the same way (19 per cent in 2023).

However, both were less optimistic about their personal financial situation. Thirty-seven per cent of Gen Z said they expected an improvement in their finances in the next 12 months (down from 42 per cent in 2023) compared with just 33 per cent of millennials (35 per cent in 2023).

Nearly half of both Gen Z (46 per cent) and millennials (48 per cent) reported their current overall mental wellbeing as either “good” or “extremely good”.

The percentage of Gen Z who said they felt stressed or anxious either all or most of the time fell from 51 per cent last year to 45 per cent. Millennials were unchanged at 44 per cent.

Both said the number one issue causing their anxiety was their longer-term financial future. This was followed by day-to-day finances and family/personal relationships.

Rise of AI

With Artificial Intelligence (AI) set to play a bigger role in the future of work, the survey found New Zealanders have mixed feelings about the technology.

Gen Z ranked “uncertainty” as their top emotion (36 per cent) when it comes to AI, followed by “fascination” (22 per cent) and “fear” (19 per cent).

Meanwhile, the top emotion for millennials when it comes to AI was “fascination” (38 per cent), followed by “uncertainty” (28 per cent) and “excitement” (25 per cent).

Just 14 per cent of Gen Zs and 18 per cent of millennials in New Zealand said they were frequent users of GenAI at work either all or most of the time.

However, those who do use GenAI at work all or most of the time said they are more likely to feel trust and excitement than uncertainty.

“Artificial Intelligence is one of those things where the more you use it, the more you increase your confidence and overall abilities,” Foster said.

“We’ve found that embracing and promoting the use of GenAI in particular has led to our people being more empowered around its use to aid their work – this has included everything from internal upskilling in AI fluency, to introducing our own chat tools.”

Cameron Smith is an Auckland-based journalist with the Herald business team. He joined the Herald in 2015 and has covered business and sports. He reports on topics including retail, small business, the workplace and macroeconomics.