Surprising new truths about Gen Z…
They’re more purpose-driven, politically conscious, and emotionally tuned-in than ever before – but not in the best way you’d assume.
A new report has lifted the lid on the inside workings of Gen Z in 2025, and it paints a image far deeper than the overused avocado on toast stereotype.
The Gen Z Wellbeing Index 2025 has revealed the refined but highly effective methods younger Australians are reshaping their identities, values and mental health in an more and more unsure world.
Young Australians are reshaping their identities, values and mental health. Getty Images
And some of the most important modifications are occurring under the floor.
On one hand, Gen Z is growing up.
The report by online youth web site Year13, and Scape – the most important purpose-built pupil lodging proprietor and operator in Australia – discovered there was a marked rise in inner resilience, with more younger people reporting a stronger sense of objective and ardour for hobbies.
But on the opposite hand, their outer world is rattling them more than ever.
Prominent points such AI, political division, climate change and inequality are more and more on their radar – and not just in a scroll-past it approach.
Year13 Co-Founder Will Stubley instructed information.com.au younger Australians are under growing stress.
AI, political division, climate change and inequality are more and more on Gen Z’s radar, according to the report by online youth web site Year13 REUTERS
“We can see the rising concerns of climate change, war and Artificial Intelligence sit alongside the perennial problems of youth like figuring out their future, fatigue and burnout,” Stubley mentioned.
“Figuring out their future in particular continues to be the most widespread problem for youth. “As industries and technology are evolving and the cost of living stays high, many Gen Zs are feeling even more pressure to make the right decisions about their future,” he mentioned.
“They need to know alternative lies forward of them but with so a lot change going on around us it means it’s never been more important to show younger people how they will match into the fashionable world.
“They want to know opportunity lies ahead of them but with so much change going on around us it means it’s never been more important to show young people how they can fit into the modern world,” Year13 Co-Founder Will Stubley mentioned. DragonImages – stock.adobe.com
“The data shows a clear need for greater support around the transition from school to work as young people seek out future-focused pathways to give them secure careers. If we want to improve wellbeing we need to improve their readiness for the workforce,” Stubley mentioned.
Gen Z is paying consideration, and they’re feeling it. The emotional toll is displaying up in actual phrases, with OCD diagnoses on the rise, and main stressors such as schooling, unemployment and politics taking centre stage in their lives.
Even politics, once a background noise for many, has doubled in prevalence as a reported wellbeing stressor.
“The data shows a clear need for greater support around the transition from school to work as young people seek out future-focused pathways to give them secure careers,” Stubley mentioned. Tj – stock.adobe.com
Concern about societal and political division has doubled from 22 per cent final 12 months to 44 per cent immediately among younger people, while it almost doubled for Artificial Intelligence (42 per cent, up from 24 per cent) as effectively.
Western Australian teen Milla Penberthy believes these exterior components are positively taking a toll on her technology.
“Most of us are a very progressive group of people and we are pushing for these rights,” the 18-year-old instructed information.com.au.
Despite AI being a main concern for her friends, Ms Penberthy believes we should always study to work with it fairly than concern it.
“It is such a helpful thing to have in our lives. I can see where the fear comes from become it’s such a new concept, but we just need to remember that it’s there to help us,” she mentioned.
Lyvia is an worldwide pupil from Malaysia who has been dwelling in Australia for three years.
The 24-year-old mentioned that as an worldwide pupil she has to “be updated on the political side of things.”
“Especially when it comes to things about my visa. You need to be watching to see what’s changing and what’s being removed,” she instructed information.com.au.
Both Penberthy and Lyvia mentioned financial stress is at the forefront of their minds as they navigate dwelling away from home.
“Obviously the cost of living in Sydney is very bad at the moment. So that’s definitely a contributing stress factor,” Penberthy mentioned.
In their quest to cope, Gen Z is diversifying their toolkit – swapping bar nights and fitbits for memes, listening to music and music.
“Most of us are a very progressive group of people and we are pushing for these rights,” teen Milla Penberthy mentioned. Jacob Lund – stock.adobe.com
Screen based mostly distractions such as gaming and social media are still huge, but a noticeable swing in the direction of non-digital self-soothing is on the rise.
Lyvia instructed information.com.au she founds consolation from the stressors of day by day life with motion pictures, and in her first 12 months of her college research loved going swimming and volunteering, but mentioned these days she is finding out and working so a lot that she will’t discover the time for them.
Penberthy mentioned she prefers to self-soothe offline, making sure she has time to pursue her love for netball and swimming.
“I love netball and swimming. I try to get myself out of my room at least once a day doing some form of exercise,” she mentioned.
Here’s the curveball: Young Aussies are consuming and vaping considerably much less.
The quantity who never touched alcohol has jumped from 13 p.c to 22 p.c, and day by day vaping charges have almost halved. It’s a fay cry from the doom-and-gloom headlines that once painted them as misplaced in a haze of nicotine and low cost savvy b.
“With all the new research that’s coming through about how bad alcohol and vaping are, our generation seems to be realising that we need to stop doing it or decrease our use,” Penberthy mentioned.
“People are definitely becoming more aware.”
However, confidence ranges stay strikingly low, particularly when it comes to self-image, with just 3 per of the broader Gen Z population reporting feeling “extremely confident” about their seems to be.
Interestingly, not all younger Aussies are faring the identical.
Scape residents, according to the report, are the standouts – reporting higher sleep, stronger mental health, and more energised morning than their national friends. Only 6 p.c reported poor mental health, in contrast to 17 p.c of the broader population.
For all modifications however, some issues haven’t budged. Young Aussies still aren’t eating enough fruit and veggies, and sleephabits stay caught – 78 p.c figuring out as evening owls, with telephones, stress and anxiety maintaining them awake.
Perhaps most telling is what hasn’t modified at all: the ever-present stress of “figuring out my future.”
In a world that’s altering fast, that looming query still hangs heavy over Gen Z’s heads.
Bottom line? Gen Z isn’t spiralling – they’re evolving.
Quietly quitting the chaos, they’re creating new paths to resilience, questioning the established order, and taking their mental health more significantly than ever. But the stress of an unstable world continues to shadow their progress.
And while some would possibly still dismiss them as chronically online or “too sensitive”, the info reveals one thing else solely: my technology would possibly just be probably the most self-aware – and socially aware – we’ve seen yet.
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