By 2030, Generation Z will be in their 20s and 30s and beginning to form families. Being the largest population segment worldwide, Generation Z will shape the future of the family as they will have an immense impact on household formation and family consumption patterns.
Diverse Genderless Family
Marriage will continue to lose its importance among Gen Zers. This generation tends to be happy to cohabit. Families will become increasingly multi-cultural with mixed-race members (driven by the strong migration trend during the 1990s and 2010s). “Untraditional” forms of families, such as unmarried couples, childless couples, or gay and lesbian couples raising children together, are likely to rise among Gen Zers.
Gen Zers do not like gender stereotypes and have been so far the strongest drivers of a genderless society. Therefore, gender rules and traditional stereotypes are predicted to continue fading in their future families. Following Millennial parents, Gen Z couples are also likely to exercise gender-neutral parenting.
Owning Spacious, Digitalised Home
Unlike Millennials who witnessed rocketed housing prices and became the “Generation Rent”, Gen Zers will enter their adulthood at a time when rental could become unaffordable, particularly in large cities, while the housing markets will start to stabilise, making it more attractive to buy homes.
By the time Gen Z starts to form their own families, smart home technology is likely to gain its breakout moment and become increasingly popular, as nearly half of global households would have access to broadband internet by 2030.
Voice technology and AI would play a central role in Gen Z’s future home. Young people have shown most comfort in connecting through voice and they tend to use voice tech to make aspects of life easier and smarter. Being known as multi-taskers, Gen Zers use voice to be able to pay attention to different tasks at once.
Smart, Responsible Living
Gen Zers are cautious spenders, and this should be reflected in their future family financial planning. They will continue to put high importance on saving and investment. The mortgage finance segment should gain stronger popularity among Gen Zers in developing countries, as urbanisation will continue to drive demand for housing.
Gen Z will form homes in a world of constant change and disruption, but they are less likely to take unnecessary risks and will be highly aware of how and where they spend money. They often check prices via their devices and ask family and friends for advice: 60% of Gen Z respondents in Euromonitor’s Lifestyles Survey 2019 said friend/family recommendations are extremely or very influential to their purchasing decisions.
The diversity of Gen Z households in family structure, cultural roots and lifestyles means they will expect brands to respect this and serve their different needs. It will be key for brands to resonate with the lifestyles of Gen Z families, rather than gender. They should also take into account the needs of “untraditional” household formats, such as same-sex couples.
To learn more about Gen Z, read our report “Future of the Family: Generation Z as Homemakers”.