Generation Z’s Challenges to Financial Independence: Adolescents’ and Early Emerging Adults’ Perspectives on Their Financial Futures

Abstract

This research examines how shared generational challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, shape Generation Z’s perceptions of their financial futures in the United States. We were particularly attentive to young people’s future orientation—an individual’s image of their future—as they developed aspirations, expectations, and plans for attaining financial independence in adulthood. In-depth interviews were conducted with 32 adolescents and early emerging adults (aged 14–22) from Washington State who were diverse in race and gender. We found that participants perceived the instability of the economic system in the U.S. as restricting Generation Z’s ability to imagine and prepare for financial independence later in life. Participants responded to economic constraints, such as rising living costs and education, by altering their expectations, aspirations, and plans for their futures. These findings have implications for Generation Z’s developmental transition to adulthood.