BURST(NEXSTAR) – A survey of Gen Zers in America has found that they’re less inclined to describe themselves as “thriving” when compared to Gen Zers in previous years.
The annual Voices of Gen Z study, conducted by Gallup in partnership with the Walton Family Foundation, seeks to gain insight “the experiences of Gen Z” and their attitudes toward their futures, their education and their engagement at school. But the study also aims to determine the percentage that perceive themselves as “thriving,” which Gallup defines as the percentage who feel positively about their lives and feel confident about maintaining that positive outlook for at least five years.
In the 2025 survey, 45% of participants described themselves as thriving — a drop from the 49% who considered themselves thriving in 2024, and the 47% who said the same in the 2023 study. This drop appears to be fueled by adult members of Gen Z (the study surveyed participants aged 13–28), with only 39% seeing themselves as thriving.
“The primary driver of the decline in life evaluation from 2024 to 2025 is the life evaluation of adult Gen Z women: 46% of women were thriving in 2024, compared with 37% in 2025,” according to the study. “At the same time, thriving among Gen Z men remained steady from 2024 to 2025 (44% vs. 45%).”
Younger, school-aged respondents were significantly more optimistic: 56% of Gen Z students thought of themselves as thriving.
The findings concerning younger Gen Zers appears to align with their attitudes toward school, as their rates of classroom engagement is at an “all-time high,” according to Gallup.
Using eight criteria for school engagement, Gallup found that all eight were trending upward when compared to 2023 and 2024. Perhaps most notably, students felt they were receiving more positive feedback (75%, up from 69% last year) and they had encouraging adults in their lives (74%, up from 68%) or teachers who make their lessons exciting (78%, up from 70%).
Students who reported being engaged in at least five areas were also significantly more likely to see themselves as thriving, the survey found.
"These results show the promise of this generation,” Romy Drucker, the education program director at the Walton Family Foundation (yes, that Walton family), was quoted as saying in a press release concerning the results of the study. “More students feel ready for the future, and engagement in classrooms is rising. Now we must ensure every young person has access to the kinds of meaningful learning experiences that unlock opportunity for a lifetime."
When it comes to adults, different demographics appeared to be thriving at different rates. Adults with higher incomes or higher levels of education were more likely to be “thriving,” as were Black adults (when compared to other races or ethnicities) and those that identified as Republicans. Adults who practiced a religion were also more often thriving, they said.
“Gen Z adults who identify as LGBTQ+ are significantly less likely to be thriving than their peers,” the report added.
When contacted, a researcher for Gallup told Nexstar that its survey did not ask participants to say why they believe they are thriving or not thriving. The researcher, however, pointed to the results of a separate Gallup study which suggested politics and the current presidential administration were likely a factor.
The results of the latest Gallup National Health and Well-Being Index, released earlier this year, found that “thriving” rates spiked for participants who identified as Republican and “plummeted” for those who identified as Democrat after the results of the 2024 presidential election.
“Since reaching a record high of 59.2% in June 2021 — six months into the COVID-19 vaccine rollout — the thriving rate has now shed over 10 percentage points, projecting to an estimated 27 million fewer Americans who are thriving now compared with four years ago,” Gallup wrote of the survey results, which were based on the responses of nearly 6,000 U.S. adults obtained in February 2025.
A Gallup researcher also pointed out that the thriving rates of adult Gen Zers who took part in the Voices of Gen Z survey — whether Republican or Democrat — had each fallen in the 2025 study: 55% of Republicans rated themselves as thriving (down from 61% in 2024) and 36% of Democrats said the same (down from 42% in 2024).
“By comparison, political independents are five points more likely to be thriving in 2025 (43%) compared with 2024 (38%),” Gallup found.