Gen Z was hit hardest by the pandemic

• Gen Z is more stressed than other generations about the pandemic's effects on their personal lives, per a survey.
• The pandemic hit them hardest in terms of education, the workforce, and relationships.

Gen Z is really stressing about the never-ending pandemic.

That's likely the case for many Americans, especially now that the Omicron variant is rapidly spreading. But the pandemic hit Gen Z during their most impressionable years — and it's interfering with their education, professional goals, and social lives more than it is for other generations.

So finds a new survey from MTV Entertainment Group and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research that polled over 3,764 Americans, including 2,683 Gen Zers. It found that 81% percent of the generation (aged 13 to 24) said they frequently or sometimes experience stress, and pandemic-related issues are the main source of the stress.

Nearly half (46%) of Gen Zers said the pandemic made it more difficult to pursue their education and career goals, compared to 36% of millennials and 31% of Gen Xers. It makes sense considering that, over a year ago, the oldest members of the generation were staring down an uncertain road.

High school seniors were oscillating between a difficult choice: A virtual college experience or deferring for a year. Meanwhile, college graduates were considering new career paths in the face of a grim economy to avoid falling behind. Last year, the class of 2020 graduated into a dismal economy marked by a nearly century-high unemployment rate of 14.7%.

They were slammed in the recession, facing the highest unemployment rate of nearly 27% in April 2020. That's on par with typical recession trends, as younger workers are hurt most in the short term.

The US job market has since picked back up, but Gen Z graduates were still having a tough time finding work this year. "New graduates are getting squeezed out of the labor market at both ends, by younger teenagers and more experienced workers just older than them," Luke Pardue, economist at payroll and benefits provider Gusto, told Insider over the summer.

No job, no friends

Things aren't faring much better on the social scene. Everyone's social lives took a hit during lockdown, but the youngest generation seemed to suffer the most.

Forty percent of Gen Zers said the pandemic made romantic relationships and dating harder, per the survey, while 45% of them said it was more difficult to maintain good relationships with friends. That's more than the 39% of Gen Xers who felt that way. Millennials also said the pandemic made friendships harder, but they were also more likely than Gen Z to say the pandemic made friendships easier (24% compared to 18%).

That's likely because much of Gen Z's dating and social life revolved around school, which was shut down last year. As generational researcher and president of Center for Generational Kinetics (CGK) Jason Dorsey previously explained to Insider last, teens were already living at home with their parents who they had to see all the time during quarantine.

It happened during a critical time for social connections, he added. Pre-teen and early teen years mark a time of growing independence, identity development, and self-esteem issues, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services.

From the workforce to relationships, the survey data indicates that Gen Z was overall hardest hit by the pandemic. But as psychologist Jeffrey Arnett, who coined the term "emerging adulthood" to describe the period between adolescence and adulthood that mainly spans ages 18 to 25, once told Insider, their in a life stage that is characterized by uncertainty regardless of a pandemic.

"Even in the good times, young adults feel they're falling behind and not making enough progress," he said. "I wouldn't make light at all of the challenges they face. But they'll still be able to pick up the pieces and move on."