Gen Z, those born from 1997-2012 (28-13 years old), face immense challenges. They encounter financial barriers to attain higher education due to increasingly high tuition. For those who graduate from a four-year college are saddled with exorbitant student debt, often well over $100,000 (for graduate and professional education, much higher into the $250,000 range). Upon graduation, job prospects are uncertain as they face a competitive and unstable labor market. Economic security for Gen Zers, whether they receive a college degree or not, is also unstable as they must contend with the possibility of AI-robotics and automation rendering their jobs obsolete.
The stress and pressures of student debt, job and economic insecurity are known to affect Gen Zer’s mental health. Harmony Healthcare IT did an extensive study of 1,055 Gen Z adults and found the following: 85% are worried about the future in general (citing personal finances, the economy, the environment, etc), 90% believe their generation is not set up for success, 75% feel they are at a disadvantage in comparison to previous generations, 20% have a regular therapist, 57% take regular medication, 39% attend therapy for mental health issues once a week. More than two in five of the country’s 68 million Gen Zers have a clinically diagnosed mental health condition. Nine in 10 Gen Z adults diagnosed with mental health issues say they struggle specifically with anxiety. Moreover, eight in 10 say they fight against frequent bouts of depression.
All of these challenges and uncertainties affect their plans for starting a family and getting married that’s often delayed or abandoned altogether. The inability to purchase a home – traditionally seen as necessary to providing for a family – further discourages Gen Zers to take on the responsibility of building a family life.
In many ways, Baby Boomers and Gen X, failed as a society to provide for a more stable and healthier environment for our Gen Z children. Even in healthcare, Gen Z faces higher rising costs and limited access to health care services than our generation did in their age. Many companies on the mainland do not offer health insurance to their full-time employees.
To make matters worse, instead of owning some part in making life difficult for our Gen Z children, the older generation places the onus entirely on Gen Zers, calling them lazy, weak, unfocused, similar to how our own parents labeled us to muster motivation. But there is a difference between when Gen X — when we were Gen Z’s age in our twenties — and the conditions of Gen Z, today. We cannot deny the steeper uphill battle Gen Z must climb.
Gen Z are fighters
The future is not all glum for Gen Z. They are fighting back. Gen Zers are active in civic engagement, politically and socially conscious. They’re a generation of activists and are harnessing powerful communication tools to sound off, network, lobby, and consolidate their power.
Gen Zers are fearless to take on the establishment and criticize “systems” that have made their life far more difficult than previous generations. For example, identifying that the root cause for their exorbitant education and out-of-reach cost for a home that’s forced many to move back as adults to live with their parents – that root cause is unbridled capitalism, the brute force of profits over everything, including making our children’s lives far more difficult than it should be.
They’ve found that political corruption enables unrestrained capitalism. Therefore, Gen Z focuses on reducing special interest power in government and advocating for greater people power.
Filipino community
Gen Z already has the civic mindedness for community upliftment and empowerment. How that will translate in the future when they’re of age to be leaders in the Filipino community is unknown. Two characteristics of Gen Z are that they’re great collaborators and strive for efficiency. This bodes well for community empowerment and has been key for Baby Boomers (Gen X, a weak point).
Gen Z’s collaboration and efficiency will evolve, likely featuring more digital interactions. Perhaps, for Baby Boomers and Gen X, this sounds puzzling, impersonal, even counterintuitive for building camaraderie and a sense of kinship. But it will be a different time and perhaps suitable for their needs.
As long as there is a sense of ethnic pride, connection to our Filipino heritage, and to each other, the Filipino community under Gen Z’s leadership looks bright. We encourage Gen Z to not wait until later to become leaders in our community. They can start now.
If we are honest, Baby Boomer Filipino immigrants in Hawaii were not very welcoming of Gen X into their clubs and organizations. There was a rift not talked about, the rift between immigrant Filipino and local Filipino.
As a result, as Baby Boomers are passing on, our Filipino community, as far as clubs’ active involvement, has waned considerably. Gen X has not carried the torch, except when it comes to professional Filipino organizations.
Gen Z can reignite involvement in the Filipino community in Hawaii and recapture the heyday of the 1990s when our community was at its zenith. Gen Zers possess valuable digital skills essential for the success of community projects. Our Filipino leaders today would be wise to welcome Gen Z into their organizations now to ensure a stronger and united community. Mabuhay to our Gen Z Filipinos. We see and hear you. We know the immense challenges you face. We welcome you to be active in our Filipino community.
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