Under Pressure

Gen Z women tell Newsweek about the stresses they are facing as they begin their adult lives and the toll it's taking on their mental health

- KATHERINE FUNG

PHOTOS COURTESY OF INTERVIEWEES

SERENA FEELS LIKE THE WORLD IS FALLING APART.

AT 26, MOST OF HER FRIENDS have tried enough antidepressants to tell you if Lexapro or Zoloft or Prozac works better. Half are unemployed, and the other half are waiting for pink slips they believe are all but certain. The dating scene is a "dumpster fire" that has normalized treating romantic prospects like they're "expendable." On Tik Tok and Instagram, Serena, who lives in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is not only bombarded with tragic news, but also with this guilt that she should care. The American dream that her parents achieved when they emigrated from Taiwan to Arkansas no longer feels possible. And when the social media manager thinks about her future children, she worries they'll have it even worse.

"That makes me sad," Serena told Newsweek. "Because I didn't always feel this way." For many Gen Z women, coming of age in 2020s America is defined by a pervasive sense of anxiety and uncertainty. In conversations with nearly 70 young women across 23 states and Washington, D.C., a portrait of a deeply uneasy generation emerged. The specifics of their lives differed-politically, personally and professionally-but the overwhelming undercurrent was the same: Instability is everywhere, from the precarious job market to romantic prospects, and from personalized algorithms to a deeply polarized political landscape.

"You can order [your friends] a DoorDash and you can sit on the phone. But you can't force them to go to therapy. You can't force them to make better decisions."