Murmuration and Walton Family Foundation release new report “Looking Forward with Gen Z”

POSTED ON Jul 06, 2022

Gen Z is now 70 million strong and considered to be the most ethnically and racially diverse generation in American history. According to Pew Research, 52% are non-Hispanic whites, a quarter is Hispanic, 14% are Black, 6% are Asian, and 5% are of another race, ethnicity, or mixed.

This June, Murmuration and the Walton Family Foundation (WFF) released a report “Looking Forward with Gen Z” which focused on the level of influence the generation born between 1997 and 2012 will have on society. The project aims to add depth to questions about how Gen Z sees their future, determines their values, and understands their expectations of public and private institutions.

The “Looking Forward with Gen Z” survey found that they are the only generation to grow up entirely in the digital age; for better or worse, social media is not a tool, it’s a part of their identity.

Whether it’s a laptop in school or at work, a device always in hand, or a social platform being central to political engagement, Zoomers do not make a distinction between real or virtual life, even while older cohorts still struggle to reconcile the differences and manage the impact of life turned increasingly transparent, connected, and social.

“Supporting youth in finding their unique path to the careers and lives they choose is only possible if we’re actively engaging them,” said Romy Drucker, director of the K-12 Education Program at the Walton Family Foundation, in a statement. “This new research makes it clear that we need to better support Gen Z in developing the skill sets and mindsets to harness their own agency. We need to work together to better understand their academic and social-emotional needs. And most importantly, we need to embrace their aspirations and empower them to create new solutions.”

While economic issues related to inflation and the trends associated with the cost of living weigh heavily on Gen Z, the research finds young Americans are voicing significant concerns about school shootings, and the erosion of fundamental rights and freedoms which include access to clean water and fresh air, personal safety, quality education, housing, and health care.

Stopping school shootings (82% very important)

Protecting access to clean water and fresh air (72%)

Reducing gun violence and mass shootings (72%)

Guaranteeing a quality education for every child (71%)

Preserving individual rights and freedoms (67%)

“While lots of people are talking about Gen Z, far fewer are talking to Gen Z. That has to change,” said Emma Bloomberg, founder and CEO of Murmuration in a statement. “We see tremendous potential to engage Zoomers, get them involved, and work together to help reshape our society. This report provides clear guidance on what needs to happen next.”

Other findings include:

Relative to their elders over age 25, Gen Z is about twice as likely (42% to 23%) to battle depression and feelings of hopelessness.

More than four in five surveyed agree (41% strongly and 42% somewhat agree) with the sentiment that “even if we disagree 90% of the time, it is important that we find the 10% of things we agree on so that we can make progress.”

Gen Z says less than a quarter of global companies (24%), philanthropic organizations (26%), government (20%), and elected officials (18%) are doing an excellent or good job listening.

Gen Z respondents surveyed express that the greater fulfillment they seek comes from having harmony between work and home life (61%), feeling passionate about their efforts (60%), having benefits (59%), and feeling valued (52%).

Just over half (51%) of Gen Z believes that their local schools prepared them well for success at this stage in their lives – but only 16% of 15 to 25-year-olds in the survey indicated that local schools prepared them “very well.”

The research project was led by SocialSphere’s John Della Volpe, the founder and director of the Harvard Youth Poll and author of the critically acclaimed FIGHT: How Gen Z is Channeling Their Fear and Passion to Save America.

Volpe conducted the research in two phases: Four large, town hall-style focus groups were conducted in Houston, Atlanta, and Columbus, Ohio – and supplemented by two small groups with Gen Zers living in Arkansas.

In total, 60 Zoomers participated in this phase. This qualitative phase was followed by an extensive national survey, fielded May 27-June 4, 2022 with N= 3,805 Americans between 15 and 25, and N= 1,108 people over age 25 for comparison. The survey, which was conducted online, carries a 95 percent credibility level of +/-1.6 percentage points for the national sample of 15-25-year-olds and 2.6% for the national sample of adults over the age of 25. Click here to read the full report.

According to CareerBuilder, Gen Z’s average length of time spent at a job is 2 years and 3 months. For millennials (26-40) that figure is 2 years and 9 months, while Gen Xers (41-56) was at a job for an average of 5 years and 2 months, and baby boomers (57-75) spent 8 years and 3 months at a job.

This begs the question, what is Gen Z looking for? What are their aspirations? And how do they define success not only professionally – but personally? Raised in an era of considerable personal, financial and social volatility, Gen Z prizes independence, community, and work that is fulfilling over nearly everything else as they grow into independent, self-sustaining adults.