Ipsos has just published its 3rd edition of its Generations Report. I’m covering key learnings from this year’s edition in a series of articles.
Today let’s review Gen Z: the report reminds us of the caution necessary before making generalisations about Gen Z as a whole.
1. WHAT DO THEY THINK?
GEN Z MEN & WOMEN SHOW SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES ON A NUMBER OF TOPICS (with women being generally more tolerant and open-minded):
- Gender equality, feminism, traditional gender roles
- Trans rights
- Abortion
- State intervention / government regulation
- Views on which societal groups are unfairly treated
- Support for right-wing political parties
TOPICS REQUIRING MORE DATA TO IDENTIFY ANY GENDER DIFFERENCES:
- Climate change
- Lesbian, gay and bisexual rights
- Support for populism
- Views on immigration
TOPICS ON WHICH BOTH GENDERS TEND TO AGREE:
- Trust in scientists
- Attitudes towards politicians
- Perceptions of elites
- Optimism for the future
- Views on education
2. WHAT DO THEY DO?
Do their opinions influence their actions? Yes, absolutely!
This is particularly obvious in elections, where the split in attitudes among Gen Z strongly impacts their voting decisions:
> In many countries across the world, the gender gap mirrored in voting behaviours, with young men playing a key role in the rise of populist parties last year.
> In the 2024 UK general election, 12.9% of young men voted for Reform UK, compared to 5.9% of women.
> In the German February 2025 federal election, around a quarter of 18-24 y.o. men voted for the far-right party, AfD.
3. WHERE TO MEET THEM?
Media fragmentation is their universe: Gen Z navigates a world of hyper-personalised feeds, niche online communities, and algorithmic bubbles.
> 2 people, even with similar interests, can have radically different online experiences.
> This fragmentation is amplified when we look at gender.
> Across 30 countries, people report spending an average of 1 hour and 45 minutes on social media sites. But this rises to 2 hours and 22 minutes, on average, among Gen Z.
In the UK for example, they spend almost 4 hours on line everyday.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- Gen Z women are trending towards more progressive and liberal views, while Gen Z men are leaning towards more conservative and traditional values.
- This gender divide has real-world consequences, in elections, education and employment.
- The fragmented media landscape, amplified by algorithms, further exacerbates this divide.