Millennials think Gen Z doesn't know how to have fun — but it's more complicated than that

• People are confused about what Gen Z does for fun. Some are worried they don't have fun at all.
• Gen Zers say they spend a lot of time in the house reading, playing games, and crocheting.

What does "fun" mean to Gen Z? That's the question on the minds of millennials since a TikToker who goes by Ashley posed the question that went hugely viral.

In a video posted on November 16, Ashley, who said she's almost 33, posited that millennials like her got to have a way better time in their late teens and early 20s than Gen Zers are now.

She told viewers she had the "best time" being an emo kid in 2005, describing the indie sleaze scene, going clubbing, drinking, and hanging out in bars and restaurants because they were affordable.

She noted that for people who came of age during the pandemic, the experience of early adulthood would have been much different.

"What do you do for fun?" she asked. "It's like a Friday night, a Saturday night, like, do you go out? Do you go to a club? Or do you just, like, go to shows? Is it only raves now?"

Her video received over 650,000 views and 5,000 comments, which showed a stark contrast in how people viewed "fun" 10-15 years ago compared to what Gen Z does now.

Gen Zers are in their 'grandma era'

Many people who said they were millennials recalled enjoying similar things to Ashley when they were younger, while commenters who said they were Gen Zers confirmed her suspicions that their experiences of having fun were different.

One viewer wrote that every Gen Z they know is in their "grandma era." They added, "Crocheting and reading books on the weekend, which is fine but it's so not what I was doing at 22."

Another commented, "I'm 23 and I rot inside. There isn't much to do anymore and it's too expensive; so I crochet and play video games."

In conclusion, Ashley determined in a follow-up video that, "It turns out that Gen Z actually just simply does not have any fun."

This second video went even more viral, receiving over 1 million views, although its premise may be a bit of an exaggeration. Ashley acknowledged that some people had told her they did have fun, just in different ways such as hanging out at people's houses rather than going out. She also noted a lesser focus on binge drinking.

"Just way more wholesome," she said. "It's kinda cool that Gen Z has more variety that doesn't just include drinking until you vomit."

Gen Zers' idea of 'fun' may be shaped by the economic and social landscape

Ashley's idea that young people are drinking less than older generations has legs. In a 2021 Gallup survey, only 60% of respondents aged 18 to 34 said they drank alcohol, whereas for those aged 35-54, the figure was 70%.

This could be down to health concerns and ineffective marketing — but also cost, a McKinsey report suggested.

Cost is a key factor in many choices made by Gen Zers, according to responses to Ashley's video. One TikToker who said they graduated high school in 2006 referred to this as the "gentrification of fun" in their own video.

"Everything is so expensive nowadays that you have to literally monetize your hobbies to be able to really enjoy them to the maximum potential," they said.

While inflation is decreasing, and some things are getting cheaper, it's mostly household appliances and cars that are becoming more affordable. Items more likely to be on young people's shopping lists, like clothing and groceries, remain high, BI previously reported.

Many viewers also wrote that they had no one to hang out with because they had no friends — an issue that seems to be impacting Gen Z in particular. In December 2022, a survey from the Harvard Graduate School of Education found that over a third of respondents aged 18 to 25 said they had felt lonely frequently, almost all the time, or all the time in the previous month.

It appears that the number of "third places" — where people can meet outside the home or office — is also dwindling. This includes bars, parks, coffee shops, libraries, and even sidewalks, BI previously reported.

The few options that are still available are also becoming pricier, which may be may be driving people to spend more time at home, limiting opportunities to build relationships, form connections, and have fun.

Perhaps the crux of the issue isn't that Gen Zers don't know how to have fun — it's that many of them can't afford to.