Power, success, fun and excitement: study finds gen Z wants them all

They make up nearly a third of the world’s population and millions of them will turn 21 this year

- Daniel Boffey

It may not be entirely reassuring to learn, then, that a study of values around the world has found that, while the idea of generational divides is largely overblown, those of the so-called generation Z are evidently clear-eyed in their desire for power, achievement, hedonism and stimulation.

Born between the mid-1990s and early-2010s, gen Z is the largest generation in the world, with an annual purchasing power of $100bn (£80.6bn) globally. They will make up 27% of the global workplace by 2025 as they take over the reins of the world economy from the millennials (born between the early 1980s and mid-1990s), gen X ( mid 1960s to early 1980s), the baby boomers (mid 1940s to mid 1960s) and the “silent generation ” ( mid 1920s to mid 1940s).

No such age cohort is homogenous, and the differences between the generations were largely found to be small. However, the driving values of gen Z are said to have stood out in a survey of 36,000 people in 30 countries, commissioned by the strategic communications consultancy BCW.