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Did Juul Lure Teenagers and Get ‘Customers for Life’?

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Did Juul Lure Teenagers and Get ‘Customers for Life’?

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This portrays Gen z because teens are the heart of this product which suppose to be made for adults. I say teens are at the heart of this product because teens are addicted and they keep buying this product which was meant to be made for adults. This source portrays Gen z this way because adults are supposed to be the ones with Juul's but instead teens are and it has even opened a doorway to nicotine

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Juul is under federal investigation for marketing its discreet, flash-drive-resembling e-cigarette product to youth. Credit Credit Jason Henry for The New York Times

The e-cigarette company says it never sought teenage users, but the F.D.A. is investigating whether Juul intentionally marketed its devices to youth.

Juul is under federal investigation for marketing its discreet, flash-drive-resembling e-cigarette product to youth. Credit Credit Jason Henry for The New York Times

SAN FRANCISCO - The leaders of a small start-up, PAX Labs, gathered at a board meeting in early 2015 to review the marketing strategy for its sleek new electronic cigarette, called Juul. They watched video clips of hip young people, posed flirtatiously holding Juuls. And they talked about the name of the gadget, meant to suggest an object of beauty and to catch on as a verb - as in "to Juul."

While the campaign wasn't targeted specifically at teenagers, a former senior manager said that he and others in the company were well aware it could appeal to them. After Juuls went on sale in June 2015, he said, the company quickly realized that teenagers were, in fact, using them because they posted images of themselves vaping Juuls on social media.

The former manager said the company was careful to make sure the models in its original campaign were at least 21, but it wasn't until late 2016 or January 2017 that the company said it decided the models in all Juul ads should be over age 35 - to be "better aligned" with a mission of focusing on adult smokers. Only in June of this year did the company again change its policy, this time to using only real people who had switched from cigarettes to Juul.

The company recently modified the names of its flavors - using creme instead of crème brûlée and cucumber instead of cool cucumber. Juul said it "heard the criticism" that teenagers might be attracted to the flavors and "responded by simplifying the names and losing the descriptors."

The sales campaigns for Juuls - now hugely popular with teenagers across the nation - are at the heart of a federal investigation into whether the company intentionally marketed its devices to youth. The attorney general of Massachusetts, also investigating the company, contends that Juul has been luring teenagers to try the product and has introduced many to nicotine. Her investigation will examine Juul's efforts to audit its own website and other online retailers that sell its products to see how effective they are at preventing minors from accessing Juul or Juul-compatible products. (Federal law prohibits sales of e-cigarettes to anyone under 18.)

"From our perspective, this is not about getting adults to stop smoking," the Massachusetts attorney general, Maura Healey, said in an interview. "This is about getting kids to start vaping, and make money and have them as customers for life."

And Cult Collective, the marketing company that created the 2015 campaign, "Vaporized," claims on its website that the work "created ridiculous enthusiasm" for the campaign hashtag, part of a larger advertising effort that included music event sponsorships and retail marketing. A spokesman for Cult Collective declined to comment.

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Examples of Juul's advertising from 2015. The company's current marketing is far more sober-looking, with a less colorful, more adult design.

The company, now called Juul Labs, denies that it ever sought to attract teenagers. James Monsees, one of the company's co-founders, said selling Juuls to youth was "antithetical to the company's mission."

The original sales campaign was aimed at persuading adult smokers in their 20s and 30s to try an alternative to cigarettes, but it "failed to gain traction on social media and failed to gain sales" and was abandoned after five months, in the fall of 2015, said a company spokesman, Matt David.

Mr. David said sales didn't take off until 2017, after Juul had improved its sales and distribution expertise, and, by then, had a more sober online marketing campaign.

The former Juul manager, who spoke to The New York Times on the condition that his name not be used, saying he worried about facing the ire of the company, said that within months of Juul's 2015 introduction, it became evident that teenagers were either buying Juuls online or finding others who made the purchases for them. Some people bought more Juul kits on the company's website than they could individually use - sometimes 10 or more devices.

"First, they just knew it was being bought for resale," said the former senior manager, who was briefed on the company's business strategy. "Then, when they saw the social media, in fall and winter of 2015, they suspected it was teens."

The Food and Drug Administration announced it was investigating Juul's marketing efforts in April. Juuls and other e-cigarettes are regulated by the F.D.A. as tobacco products because nicotine derives from tobacco leaves. E-cigarette users inhale far fewer toxins than do smokers of traditional cigarettes. The nicotine inhaled while vaping is less a concern for adults than these toxins, but it remains a serious health issue for teenagers, whose brains are still developing.

The Juul story highlights a central dilemma in public health. Cigarettes remain the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, killing more than 480,000 people a year. But will it be possible to get people who are addicted to cigarettes to switch to e-cigarettes, which are less harmful, without enticing a new generation or non-smokers to try them?

Juul, in a letter responding to the F.D.A.'s demand for documents, said it had converted one million smokers to Juul, but the company data is drawn from self-reported surveys on its website and is unverifiable.
[Here's how schools are dealing with the rise in popularity of e-cigarettes.]
Dr. Scott Gottlieb, who heads the F.D.A., declined to comment on the agency's investigation of Juul. But he has long been hopeful that e-cigarettes or other similar devices, properly regulated, will prove a safer alternative to smoking and help people quit the deadly habit. Before becoming F.D.A. commissioner, he served on the board of directors of Kure, a retailer that sells e-cigarette products.

"Two-thirds of adult smokers have stated they want to quit," he said. "They know it's hard, and they've probably tried many times to quit. We must recognize the potential for innovation to lead to less harmful products."
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But Eric Lindblom, a former F.D.A. tobacco official who heads the tobacco control program at Georgetown Law, said Juul's internal concerns about teenage use demonstrate they are in some ways "no different than the cigarette industry."

"They are going to maximize their sales and profits any way they can," he said. "They are going to do that within the law, but they are going to press the gray areas as much as they can."

Over the last three years, Juul has had a meteoric rise. It has become the dominant seller of e-cigarettes, now controlling a remarkable 72 percent of the market, according to Nielsen data. In July, the company completed a round of fund-raising for $1.2 billion, putting it in rarefied air. From a virtual standing-start in 2015, it is now valued by investors at $16 billion.

Across the country, Juuls have become so popular that "Juuling" has indeed become a verb, and officials from several state governments have sent alerts to schools warning them about the problem.

A survey of adolescent drug use last year found that 11 percent of 12th graders, 8.2 percent of 10th graders and 3.5 percent of eighth graders had vaped nicotine in the previous 30 days.

Juul's other co-founder, Adam Bowen, said that he was aware early on of the risks e-cigarettes posed to teenagers, and that the company had tried to make the gadgets "as adult-oriented as possible," purposely choosing not to use cartoon characters or candy names for its flavors.

The F.D.A. has ordered Juul to turn over the company's research and marketing documents, including focus group data and toxicology reports, to determine whether it intentionally courted the youth market.

The day after receiving the F.D.A. letter, Juul announced it would spend $30 million to combat underage vaping and recruited Tom Miller, the attorney general of Iowa, who helped lead the multistate 1998 master settlement with tobacco companies, to run an advisory board to counsel Juul on its efforts. Mr. Miller said recommendations might include more controls on social media marketing and better surveillance of retail outlets, but the ultimate decision on how to spend the money remains with Juul.

Mr. Miller says he sees huge potential in e-cigarettes. He believes Juul and other e-cigarette companies have already helped lower the adult smoking rate to 13.9 percent in 2017 from 16.8 percent in 2014. "The only plausible explanation is e-cigarettes," he said.

A report from Citigroup, citing Nielsen data, said that sales of traditional cigarettes dropped 6 percent in the first quarter of this year and "it's impossible to say what has caused the change for sure but the most obvious case is Juul."

Juul recently deleted months of social media posts, including ones with images of cool-looking young people vaping Juuls. This spring it made major changes to its website, which had prominently displayed a Juul surrounded by luscious-looking images of fruit and the words "Mango, it's back." The site is now a more sober-looking affair, featuring video of adults vaping with a tagline "For smokers. By design." Across the top of the page, visitors are invited to "learn about our youth prevention efforts."

Mr. Bowen, 42, and Mr. Monsees, 38, the company's founders, met in 2003 in a graduate product-design program at Stanford University, bonding over brainstorming sessions and cigarettes. Both had been smokers since their teens, and both have since quit; Mr. Monsees regularly uses a Juul.

The culmination of the program was a masters thesis, and both had struggled to find a worthy subject. In 2004, about six months before the thesis was due, they got to talking about their smoking habits and, within days, were excitedly sending emails back and forth about developing an alternative to cigarettes.

Big tobacco companies were experimenting with e-cigarettes, but there was no real market for them until around 2010, when NJoy, an Arizona company, became the industry's first darling. By 2013, e-cigarettes were a $1.7-billion-a-year business, still only a small fraction of the $90 billion cigarette business.

But then NJoy gambled on an e-cigarette that looked virtually identical to a cigarette. It was a mistake, said Craig Weiss, the chief executive who pushed the so-called cigalike strategy and now consults for Juul. As NJoy's fortuned flagged, he said he realized that people didn't want a product that looked so much like a cigarette that it still left them with the stigma of being a smoker. NJoy filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2016, later re-emerging.

Juul initially developed a product in 2010 that looked like a fountain pen and distributed it in specialty vape shops. Its sales grew to a modest $30 million by 2015.

Then the company found its current design, a sleek stick that looks like a flash drive, and largely stumbled onto a new way of delivering nicotine: it mixes nicotine with a chemical called benzoic acid. The result is that when Juul users inhale, they get a very quick and powerful burst of nicotine. This gives smokers a more cigarette-like experience, but medical researchers say it also makes the product more addictive for youth.

The company launched its new product in June 2015, with starter kits costing $35, and packs of four nicotine refill cartridges selling for $16 - each roughly the equivalent of the cost of a pack of cigarettes. According to Nielsen, sales in the first month were roughly $1,500 and reached over $1 million that December. It began a steady climb, and then experienced explosive growth in the beginning of 2017, with sales rising 627 percent in the four weeks ending June 17, 2017, according to Nielsen and Wells Fargo Securities.

The company said that toward the end of 2016 and around the beginning of 2017, it changed its social marketing campaign and guidelines to require all models to be over the age of 35.

In the last two months, Juul has removed the flavor focus and now uses only "real people" who have used Juul to switch from smoking cigarettes, the company said.

Matt Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said that he was prepared to be a fan of a product like Juul if it is responsibly marketed and shown to help adults quit smoking. But he cited a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that in 2017 2.1 million high schoolers and middle schoolers used e-cigarettes - "and the reports about high school students using Juul are rampant," he said.

Mr. Myers observed that Juul "delivers nicotine so much better than any comparable product on the market," and so its popularity means that "both the hopes of the e-cig fans, and fears of those concerned about e-cigs and kids, rise exponentially."

On Jan. 23, The Boulder Daily Camera published a front-page story about the growing concerns of local educators in Colorado about student use of Juuls.

Five days later, Carrie Yantzer, the principal at Nederland Middle-Senior High School, received an email that immediately struck her as suspicious. The writer introduced himself as Bruce Harter, a former educator working with Juul to develop an anti-vaping curriculum for schools.

[Here's why public health experts believe vaping may lure teenagers into smoking.]
"I read about the challenges you're having with Juul," Mr. Harter wrote. He offered a free, three-hour curriculum provided by Juul to discourage teens from using e-cigarettes by teaching them about their brains and giving them mindfulness exercises.

"What we've found from focus groups with teenage Juul users is that young people don't understand the dangers of nicotine addiction," the letter read. "They sometimes feel 'pushed' by friends to use e-cigarettes. We also found that they don't have operative ways to deal with stress and the emotional ups and downs of their lives right now."

Ms. Yantzer was angry. "It sounded preposterous," she said, and the company "deceptive."

She wasn't the only school administrator to get such a letter. The Boulder school district and, ultimately, the state of Colorado condemned the offer as a brand-building exercise that was tone-deaf at the very least.

"The way we see this is a fox guarding the henhouse," said Alison Reidmohr, tobacco communications specialist for the Colorado Department of Public Health. "A company that stands to profit from, and currently profit off, youth using a product can't be trusted to prevent use of this product."

Ashley Gould, Juul's chief administrative officer, said the company, because it has not built management around former tobacco-industry employees, was unaware the tactic had been used by cigarette companies. However, Juul's board of directors includes experienced investors, including Nicholas Pritzker, a billionaire whose family controlled one of the country's largest chewing tobacco companies, Conwood, which was acquired in 2006 by Reynolds American for $3.5 billion.

For its part, Juul said it was still deciding what to do with that school program. Ms. Gould said the company did not realize the curriculum would offend or that the idea harked to a tactic big tobacco companies used decades ago. "We didn't know," she said. "We should've known."

Juul has a new innovation in the works, a Bluetooth-enabled version of its e-cigarette that it hopes could push more smokers to switch without risking youth uptake. Mr. Monsees called it a "smart" e-cigarette.

The Bluetooth-equipped Juul might provide a way for adult vapers to measure their nicotine use. It also might discourage teen use by disabling the device unless it's in the presence of its adult buyer, perhaps by linking it to the buyer's cellphone. The solution would still require effective controls on sales to minors at brick-and-mortar stores and online retail outlets.

Juul officials contend their ability to offer such innovations is hamstrung by regulatory policies. The company is building a high-powered operation in Washington to help it navigate such issues. It's run by Tevi Troy, a political strategist who worked with Dr. Gottlieb, the F.D.A. commissioner, at the Department of Health and Human Services under President George W. Bush and who wrote an opinion article with him for The Wall Street Journal.

The company has also hired Jim Esquea, who was an assistant secretary at the health department during the Obama administration, and Gerald Masoudi, a former F.D.A. chief counsel.

The company is also ratcheting up its lobbying efforts. It has reported spending $450,000 on lobbying so far in 2018 - substantially more than the $120,000 reported spent for all of 2017. It also recently started a political action committee, although no donations have yet been reported. In June, Kevin Burns, Juul's chief executive, gave $50,000 to the Republican congressional leadership fund.

The centerpiece of Dr. Gottlieb's tobacco control strategy is a plan that would potentially greatly benefit e-cigarette companies, including Juul. It would require tobacco companies to reduce nicotine levels in traditional cigarettes so much that they were no longer addictive. The proposal is still in the early discussion phase, with the tobacco industry strongly opposed. But it would potentially make Juul, a potent nicotine delivery device, far more appealing to smokers.

Mr. Monsees, a Juul co-founder, says he believes that e-cigarettes are a key to reducing smoking, and can be profitable without sales to teenagers.

"Yes, I want to make money," he said. "I'm on the board with a fiduciary duty that obligates me to make money."

But he added, "The best investor return in the long term comes from more adults turning away from combustible cigarettes."

Alexandra Yoon-Hendricks contributed reporting from Washington.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: Investigators Ask if Vaping Ads Tried to Hook Teenagers for Life. Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe

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Did Juul Lure Teenagers and Get 'Customers for Life'?

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The e-cigarette company says it never sought teenage users, but the F.D.A. is investigating whether Juul intentionally marketed its devices to youth. Juul is under federal investigation for marketing its discreet, flash-drive-resembling e-cigarette product to youth.

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This article portrays Gen z because it's stating that it is kind of easy to spot a member of Gen z. This source portrays Gen z this way because teens are more worried about their appearance nowadays and all about style. Gen z is different from previous generations because teens care too much to impress people and not being themselves and wear whatever they want. We are forced to look good in order to fit in.

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Miley Cyrus, a late millennial, yes, but also a Generation Z style avatar. Credit Credit Matt Sayles/Invision, via Associated Press

You think baby boomers, and you picture "hippie," or maybe "disco." You think Generation X, you think "grunge" or "metrosexual."

Every generation, it seems, can be boiled down to a signature look or two, at least in the hindsight of a few decades. But what of Generation Z?

Most members of this generation are still in high school (if not elementary school), so it may be a little early to say. So far, the prevailing style for many still tends toward the timelessly teenage: jeans, cool sneakers and messy hair for boys; jeans, cool sneakers and neat hair for girls.
Read More: Move Over, Millennials. Here Comes Generation Z.
Marketing gurus are trying to position this nonlook as a trend in itself: anti-style as a generational instinct. In a recent report called "Meet the Centennials" - another name for Generation Z - the Futures Company, a global marketing consultancy, reported that 47 percent of the youths it surveyed (ages 12 to 17) say they "care a lot about whether their clothes are in style," compared with 65 percent for millennials surveyed in 1999.

"Young people feel much more emboldened to express their own sense of style rather than mimicking a peer-accepted uniform or dress code compared to previous generations," said Rob Callender, the company's director of youth insights. "In short, there's a strong 'you do you' ethos among teens today."

Maybe.

But there is also a robust global industry of youth-oriented apparel brands, along with fashion magazines and style blogs, dedicated to the time-honored premise that cooler-than-thou clothes are, as always, up there with food, water or oxygen as staples for many teenagers.

While it may be too early to settle on a defining look for Generation Z, here are some styles making noise among the younger-than-Bieber crowd.

GENDER NEUTRAL: In a world where Jaden Smith, the 17-year-old son of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, can establish himself as a Generation Z style icon by showing up at his prom with a skirt, as he did in the spring, accompanied by Amandla Stenberg from "The Hunger Games," it's fair to say that the X/Y chromosome distinction seems a little passé for at least some of today's teenagers.

"This group seem much less attached to traditional gender binaries or linear definitions of sexuality," said Lucie Greene, a trend forecaster at J. Walter Thompson, the advertising giant. "It's all about individualism and the right to be whatever you want."

Ms. Greene cited fashion brands like Telfar and 69 Worldwide, recently featured in a New York Times article, as exemplars of the trend. Lucky Blue Smith, the ice-blond 17-year-old male model who, at a distance, could pass for the 1992 version of Linda Evangelista, could be the poster child for the look.

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Lucky Blue Smith, the 17-year-old male model who could be the poster child for the Generation Z look. Credit Jp Yim/Getty Images for Michael Kors

NEO-RAVE: Generation Z is largely the spawn of Generation X, so it's not entirely surprising that it seems to have inherited a taste for the rave look, a 1990s staple. Shop Jeen, the popular web retailer, is brimming with Pop Art-style skirts printed with a giant Coca-Cola logo, tie-dyed maxidresses and rainbow chokers, all of which seem to beg for a spin of Dad's old Prodigy CD.

And then there's Miley Cyrus, a late millennial, yes, but also a Generation Z style avatar. As host of MTV's Video Music Awards in August, this Hannah-Montana-gone-bad turned the telecast into a virtual runway show of '90s-club-kid retro chic, with her rhinestone sunglasses in the shape of peace signs, fake dreadlocks and polka-dot jumpsuits. All that was missing was a cameo from Deee-Lite's Lady Miss Kier.

ROCKER REDUX: Whether you call them Generation X, Y or Z, teenagers are still teenagers. No wonder the punkish signifiers of rebellion for their parents' generation are making a comeback. Brandy Melville, the explosively popular retail site for teenage girls, features Nirvana T-shirts and Kurt Cobain-esque plaid shirts, perfect for tying at the waist. Teen Vogue's beauty trend report for spring cited vintage Patti Smith-style shag haircuts and ripped-fishnets-era Courtney Love scarlet lipstick as trends for 2015.

The generation also has its own rockers, like Bea Miller, a 16-year-old from New Jersey hailed by Rolling Stone as a "punky, angsty, rock-tinged new voice." She certainly dresses the part, hitting the streets in a leather motorcycle jacket and hair dyed blue-green. It's a look that is a little bit Joey Ramone, a little bit 1990s Tower Records clerk. Either way, it rocks.

Rolling Stone called Bea Miller, a 16-year-old from New Jersey, a "punky, angsty, rock-tinged new voice." Credit Michael Buckner/Getty Images

NORMCORE: What started as an in joke for Brooklyn hipsters (or, perhaps, a media creation) just may possibly kind of sort of be catching on with teenagers in 2015, at least according to young style bloggers who are seeing a shift among some teenagers toward nonstyle that is right in line with the Futures Company's findings.

Evita Nuh, the 16-year-old Indonesian behind the popular fashion blog The Crème de la Crop, who has been held up by Elle as a "next Tavi," as in Gevinson, sees a dawning moment "when you are actually fashionable by looking like you don't care about fashion at all." For those who opt for oversize sweaters, baseball caps and jogging pants, "it's basically the laundry-day look," she said.

Evita Nuh, teen fashion blogger. Credit Maharani Nuh

The look has some celebrity endorsement. When Kendall Jenner, the 19-year-old model is not striding the runway, she pops up on Pinterest boards wearing #normcore mom jeans and cropped sweatshirts. It's a look that seems to cross age boundaries, and borders. Hollie Williamson, the British teenager behind the blog Ditzy and Whimzy, sees a surge in plain-jane white Reebok sneakers and '90s jeans too recent to be "retro." "Ugliness," she said, "is, like, a trend."

Continue enjoying fashion and lifestyle coverage on the new Styles Facebook page. Sign up to receive our NYT Living newsletter, a roundup of lifestyle news from the Style section and across the Times delivered to your inbox twice a week.

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You think baby boomers, and you picture "hippie," or maybe "disco." You think Generation X, you think "grunge" or "metrosexual." Every generation, it seems, can be boiled down to a signature look or two, at least in the hindsight of a few decades. But what of Generation Z?

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Meet Generation Z, the 'millennials on steroids' who could lead the charge for change in the US

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Meet Generation Z, the 'millennials on steroids' who could lead the charge for change in the US

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This article portrays Gen z as different because there was a study that shed some light on the up and coming generation. This source portrays gen z this way because gen z are millennials on steroids which means they tend to exhibit similar opinions and beliefs to the one before it. Gen z has the potential to make the world a better place all together and shine some light into this world because this generation is really going to demand for things to be different.

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Generation Z is the youngest American generation.

In many ways, it reflects and amplifies the millennial generation that came before it.

It's the most diverse and inclusive generation yet.

Millennials are old news.

Generation Z is up next.

Gen Z was born between 1998 and 2016, meaning the oldest members are just 19.

That means they're the teenagers entering college, soon to join the workforce and spark their own round of why-young-people-are-the-worst think pieces on the internet.

But who are they, really? What can we expect from them? A new report from boutique research firm 747 insights, in partnership with consumer research platform Collaborata, sheds some light on the up-and-coming generation.

The study, called " Generation Nation," surveyed over 4,000 Americans from their late teens to their early 70s to find out how they feel about everything from work to friendships to brands, and analyzed their responses.

Michael Wood, a principal at 747 Insights, told Business Insider he's heard Gen Z called "millennials on steroids" because the generation tends to exhibit similar opinions and beliefs to the one before it - just more.

"In many ways, generational change is like the seasons," he said. "The changes are very gradual, and if we're looking at society as a whole, it's this millennial mindset that has influenced Gen X and the older generations, but also definitely has had a strong influence on Gen Z."

One of the standout findings of this report, he said, was the lack of patriotism among Gen Z. "I think it has strong implications for how supportive they're going to be with government moving forward," he said. "They may be even interested in going a different route altogether, one that does a better job of embracing their acceptance and their belief in being inclusive."

Wood also thinks the findings have strong implications for marketing. Gen Z "may not be as willing to accept those pro-America brands as perhaps previous generations did," he said. "Or think about something like the military - maybe they won't necessarily respond to the same messages in terms of recruiting. I think this is a generation we're going to see really demand things being done differently."

Scroll down to learn more about what we can expect from tomorrow's generation:

According to the research, there are three primary factors that influence a generation: age, societal norms, and technology.

Gen Z doesn't know a time without the internet, and it shows. They favor streaming content in snack-sized bites, like that offered through Youtube, and consume it mostly on their phones and computers. They largely eschew TV shows and movies, and are unused to live programming with advertising.

747 Insights also points out that because Gen Z has little experience consuming traditional broadcast news, it may be more susceptible to "fake news" than the generations that precede it.

When presented with the statement "I have one or more friends who are of a different race than me," here are the percentages of respondents who agreed, by generation:

* 81% Gen Z
* 69% Millennials
* 67% Gen X
* 71% Baby Boomers

As far as dating people of a different race, 35% of Gen Zers (who are age 19 at most) said they have; that's more than any other generation than millennials, 43% of whom said they have.

This may be because Gen Z is the most racially diverse generation in America. The Census Bureau found that 48% of Gen Z is non-Caucasian. The next most-diverse generation is the millennials, 44% of whom are non-Caucasian.

Members of Gen Z are also the most likely to say they have friends of a different sexual orientation (59%, versus 53% of millennials and smaller percentages of the older generations).

When asked which issues they support, Gen Z respondents stood out in two areas: marrying someone of a different race, and marriage equality.

On the issues of Social Security, healthcare for all, and protecting the environment, the percentage of Gen Zers in favor was roughly in line with those of other generations (although Boomers are especially concerned about Social Security).

But for marrying someone of a different race, 77% of Gen Zers were in favor - the next-highest generation was millennials, at 66%. For marriage equality, 66% favored - again, the next-highest generation was millennials, trailing them at 58%.

Less than half (48%) of Gen Z respondents agreed with the statement "My parents followed through with discipline if I broke the rules," and only 26% said they got parental help with homework.

Compare that to the 59% of millennials and 67% of Gen Xers who could trust their parents would follow through with discipline. More than 40% of older generations said they got homework help from their parents.

There's a key way in which Gen Z differs from millennials: optimism.

More Gen Zers than anyone else (68%) feel the US is headed in the wrong direction, and fewer Gen Zers than anyone else (32%) feel the country is headed in the right direction.

When asked how "things are going in the US," 44% said they were "worried" - similar to every generation but millennials, who were the least-worried at 39% - and 21% said they were "scared" - more than any other generation.

Only 12% said they were "optimistic." At least 23% of other generations felt that way.

Plus, 71% said they see their lives getting more challenging in the future, 10 more percentage points than the next group trailing them.

Executive Editor, Personal Finance Insider

Libby Kane, CFEI, is the Executive Editor for * * * * * Personal Finance Insider also rates, explains, and recommends financial products and services, whether that's the Outside of personal finance, she's written about everything from Personal Finance Insider, Insider's personal finance section that incorporates affiliate and commerce partnerships into the news, insights, and advice about money Insider readers already know and love. She holds the Certified Financial Education Instructor (CFEI) certification issued by the National Financial Educators Council. For 2021 and 2022, she is a member of the Insider Committe, a cross-team focus group working on making Insider an even better place to work. Previously at Insider, she oversaw teams including Strategy, Careers, and Executive Life. Her team at Insider has tackled projects including: Women of Means, a series about women taking control of their finances Inside the Racial Wealth Gap, an exploration of the causes, effects, and potential solutions of the racial wealth gap in the US (finalist, Drum Award, "Editorial Campaign of the Year," 2021) Strings Attached, a series of essays from people who have left insulated communities and how that journey affected their relationship with money Master Your Money, a year-long guide for millennials on how to take control of their finances (first runner up, Drum Award, "Best Use of Social Media," 2022) The Road to Home, a comprehensive guide to buying your first house (silver award winner, National Association of Real Estate Editors, "Best Multi-Platform Package or Series - Real Estate," 2022) In September 2016, she helped launch Insider Netherlands in Amsterdam. best travel credit card, the best investment apps, or the why Chinese children are so good at math to the business of dogs to hard truths about adulthood. best homeowners insurance companies. She's always interested in research, charts, and people: new and interesting research, compelling charts and other visuals, and people who are willing to share the details of their impressive financial accomplishments and strategies. Before joining the company in March 2014, she was the associate editor at LearnVest, covering personal and behavioral finance. If you have something to share, please reach out to lkane@insider.com. Learn more about how Personal Finance Insider chooses, rates, and covers financial products and services "Sign up to get Personal Finance Insider's free email newsletter in your inbox "

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Meet Generation Z, the 'millennials on steroids' who could lead the charge for change in the US

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Generation Z is the youngest American generation. In many ways, it reflects and amplifies the millennial generation that came before it. It's the most diverse and inclusive generation yet. Millennials are old news. Generation Z is up next. Gen Z was born between 1998 and 2016, meaning the oldest members are just 19.

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Move Over, Millennials, Here Comes Generation Z

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Move Over, Millennials, Here Comes Generation Z

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This article portrays Gen z as a better generation then millinnials because they are “the next big retail disrupter,” according to Women’s Wear Daily. They have “the weight of saving the world and fixing our past mistakes on their small shoulders,” according to an article on Fast Company’s Co.Exist site by Jeremy Finch.

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Move Over, Millennials, Here Comes Generation Z (Published 2015)

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Hear the word "millennial," and plenty of images spring to mind. There's Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, in his hoodie, earning his first billion by the age of 23. There's Miley Cyrus, preening for the cameras in a flesh-baring act that recalls a Snapchat sexting session.

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Generation Z: ‘We have more to do than drink and take drugs

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Generation Z: ‘We have more to do than drink and take drugs

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This article portrays Gen z as a responsible generation because we know we have to do more than drink and drugs. This article portrays Gen z this because they drink less, take far fewer drugs, and have made teenage pregnancy a near anomaly. Generation z prefer juice bars to pub crawls, rank quality family time ahead of sex and prioritise good grades before friendship, at least according to a report published by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service last week.

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hey drink less, take far fewer drugs, and have made teenage pregnancy a near anomaly. Generation Z - one of several terms used to describe post-millennial youth born after 1996 - prefer juice bars to pub crawls, rank quality family time ahead of sex and prioritise good grades before friendship, at least according to a report published by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service last week.

An onslaught of sneering headlines followed, characterising today's youth as boring, sensible and hopelessly screen-addicted.

So, are the kids all right?

"We have so much more to do than [just] drink and take drugs," says Demi Babalola, a 19-year-old philosophy and sociology student. "I'm not surprised those [statistics] show that's the case: it makes sense. We have a lot more to distract us now."

What's her biggest time stealer? "Social media." Babalola toggles between Snapchat, Twitter and Instagram, although she rolls her eyes at the mention of Facebook, full as it is of "older people".

But it's not just the breadth of entertainment and culture that is so instantly available - and disposable - to Babalola and her peers. There is also a growing feeling that the preoccupations of her parents' generation seem, well, a bit lame.

"Going out takes a lot of effort: it's boring, repetitive and expensive," she says. "Obviously, I used to go out a lot in my first year [at university], but now we do more kickbacks."

To the uninitiated, a kickback is the sophisticated Gen Z sweet spot between the lairy house parties of yore - the ones typified by vomit on the parental carpet and a trashing of the family bathroom - and a pre-teen sleepover.

"We hang out, we listen to music, make our own food, and play games," she says. "We'll probably organise it a couple of days before."

Lewis Allely, 14, from Cornwall, agrees. "We're quite different [from your generation] because there's more stuff to do at each other's houses and we have more technology - like, we have video games."

His teacher, Mr Worthington, laughs. "I gave them a free lesson the other day where they could do what they wanted." He knew a mass bunk- off to the park or similar would be off the cards. "I came back after an hour and they were all sitting in a circle, looking down at their phones and chatting."

The cliche that many young people spend far too much time online, instead of indulging in a romanticised form of rebellion, may have some truth, but as futurologist Rhiannon McGregor points out, Gen Z-ers are more cautious and risk-averse than their parents, partly because that technology exists.

Demi Babalola, 19, says she and her friends enjoy kickbacks together. Photograph: Courtesy of Demi Babalola

"They're aware from an early age of how they're portrayed online and offline, so they curate themselves in a more conservative way," she says. (In other words, no one wants to be publicly shamed getting messy or being recklessly daft.)

"But they're also more socially aware and see themselves as part of a global community. It's easier to get and feel connected to someone in Africa or Asia and share concerns about climate change, for instance."

Clara Finnigan, 22, who grew up in Devon and is in her final year at the University of Arts London, points out that one size doesn't fit all. She still goes out, "often to gay clubs".

She believes her generation is unfairly judged and that it reports levels of stress and depression that are higher than ever because of the economic and political state of the world it has inherited.

"The whole anxiety of not having stability in your future is something that is definitely very present. I won't probably ever own my own house, unless I get really lucky."

She slumps in her seat at the pretentiously swanky bar we meet in. "I just want what previous generations have had: you work hard, you reap the rewards of that. Sometimes I feel a bit hopeless because [my degree and hard work] won't make a difference.

"I don't expect to have one full-time gig; my career won't be defined by one job. I know I'll have to do stuff I don't enjoy to be able to do passion projects that I do."

Amelia Colthart, a 22-year-old graduate from Leicester, and Myesha Owen Munro, a 17-year-old A-level student from north London, both agree.

"At my age, my parents and my grandparents owned their own home," says Colthart. "I don't go out clubbing - I know my limits. I go to friends' houses [for kickbacks], but I have to prioritise my career goals because it's a lot harder to achieve what I want."

Owen Munro adds: "My generation feels bitter about all the things we won't be able to do because of what the older generation chose."

Clara Finnigan, 22, believes Generation Z is unfairly judged.

The subjects of Brexit and of dropping out of university to pursue less mind-boggingly expensive apprenticeships come up a lot. As does a consistent refusal to accept that anyone should be defined by traditional markers of identity.

"We're more inclusive," says Babalola. "You can do what you want as long as you don't harm anyone and stay safe. It's about freedom. Previous generations always made distinct separations between being gay or straight.

"I try to avoid labels - being a black girl means society already has certain stereotypes that are expected, like I should be outspoken or 'sassy' or loud or like certain music." Another eyeroll. "It's restricting."

"People are more sexually experimental in my school, more than I thought," says Owen Munro. "The boys as much as the girls."

Do monogamous relationships hold any appeal? "Well, I don't know anyone who wants to get married as a life goal. Why would you spend the whole of your life with one person?"

While statistics show that smoking, drinking and clubbing may be in decline for today's young people, the health and wellness industry is booming with the same demographic - in part, because these young people have had so much information at their disposal.

"The risks and downsides of doing all of those things have been drummed into us at school from an early age," says Colthart. "Self-care is a much bigger deal for us."

Generation Z-ers will, after all, be living longer and more healthily, and looking better for it.

A report (pdf) from the Institute of Alcohol Studies suggests that changing demographics also play a part, reporting that "ethnic minority children ... are less likely to drink, [which] can directly explain a small proportion of the fall in underage drinking" but also that there is evidence these same minority students can also influence their peers. "Non-Muslim children in schools with a high Muslim population are less likely to drink," it states.

So what is the new going out? The Generation Z idea of fun that is inexplicable to older adults? Owen Munro, Allely and Babalola instantly refer me to Snapchat, where they communicate in a constant group feed with their friends. Broadcasting the minutiae of her day - a good oufit, a trip to Westfield - is as second nature as breathing to Babalola.

"It's kind of documenting your life, but you have an audience and you immediately know who's interacting. I enjoy it - it makes me feel important that 100 people are watching what I'm eating."

"It's easier than Instagram," agrees Owen Munro. "I hate putting up a picture and waiting to see if anyone likes it. It's scary."

And what are Babalola's plans for today? "My friends and I go out to London, or cycling. We might go to a cute cafe and take pictures."

The Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964)

Invented: free love.

Known for: benefiting from free university education, a prosperous jobs market and robust economic growth.

Big on: telling each other that if you remember the 1960s, you weren't really there.

Generation X (born 1965-1981)

Invented: irony, McJobs and disaffected slackerism.

Known for: their diet of MTV, rave culture and indie films.

Big on: reminiscing about 1988's second summer of love.

Millennials (born 1982-1995)

Invented: avocados and overly elaborate coffee orders.

Known for: making "hipster" a dirty word and sending selfies mainstream.

Big on: blaming Boomers for dismantling the concept of free university education, homeownership and jobs for life.

Generation Z (born 1996-2016)

Invented: the ability to hold a conversation and simultaneously scroll through their phones.

Known for: being globally connected and politically anxious.

Big on: experimenting with gender and sexual spectrums.

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Generation Z: 'We have more to do than drink and take drugs'

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hey drink less, take far fewer drugs, and have made teenage pregnancy a near anomaly. Generation Z - one of several terms used to describe post-millennial youth born after 1996 - prefer juice bars to pub crawls, rank quality family time ahead of sex and prioritise good grades before friendship, at least according to a report published by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service last week.

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Why Generation Z is less Christian than ever -- and why that's good news

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Why Generation Z is less Christian than ever -- and why that's good news

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This article portrays Gen z as non religious.This article portrays Gen z this way because Gen is the least Christian generation to date, according to a new Barna study – 34 percent of Gen Z’s religious affiliation is either atheist, agnostic or none. In fact, teens 13-18 years old are twice as likely as adults to say they are atheist. And just three in five 13- to 18-year-olds say they are some kind of Christian (59 percent).

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Gen Z-the generation following the millennials-is the least Christian generation to date, according to a new Barna study - 34 percent of Gen Z's religious affiliation is either atheist, agnostic or none. In fact, teens 13-18 years old are twice as likely as adults to say they are atheist. And just three in five 13- to 18-year-olds say they are some kind of Christian (59 percent).
Creating Disney World-like Environments in our Churches is not Preparing Gen Z
As Christian parents, pastors, educators, and leaders, we want what's best for our kids. We want to see them grow up and follow Jesus for a lifetime. Yet, we all know young people who have become disillusioned or drifted away from the faith. It doesn't have to be this way: no student should "outgrow" their faith.

As my friend David Kinnaman, the president of the Barna Group, put it while we were working on this Gen Z study together, "Is it possible that many churches are preparing young Christians to face a world that no longer exists?" Based on my experience working with students, the answer to this question is yes.

Many Christian teens are simply unprepared for the world that is waiting for them. With the best of intentions, we bubble wrap our kids and create Disney World-like environments for them in our churches, and then wonder why they have no resilience in faith or life. Students are entertained but not prepared. They've had a lot of fun but are not ready to lead. When the pressure to conform is turned up, Christian teenagers tend to wilt if they do not have the confidence that only comes from knowing why they believe what they believe. As one teenager told me, "following Jesus today is hard because sometimes you feel like the only one."
Culture is Changing Fast and Teenagers are Confused
Gen Z has been discipled by their smart phones, taught sex ed by Google, and conditioned to assume that just because they believe something makes it true.

Contrary to what you may have heard, Christianity is not a fairytale for grown-ups invented to make ourselves feel better. Followers of Jesus have nothing to fear from tough questions, honest doubts, and challenging conversations. Gen Z needs to know that Christians care about truth.

Our culture is changing fast and teenagers are confused-morally and spiritually. At Impact 360 Institute, we've been studying Gen Z alongside the Barna Group for the past year and a half and the research and focus groups confirm this trend. For example, only 34 percent of Gen Z agree that lying is morally wrong; 24 percent say what is morally right and wrong changes over time based on society, and 58 percent of this least-Christian generation agree that "Many religions can lead to eternal life; there is no 'one true religion.'"
Let's Stop Pretending
So why is the fact that Gen Z is less Christian than ever good news again? Because we need to stop pretending and start living in reality.

We need to stop pretending that if we entertain teenagers then they will stick around after they graduate.

We need to stop pretending that if we protect them from everything they won't question, doubt, or walk away.

And we need to stop pretending that a few minutes of a moralistic, watered down Bible lesson on a Sunday morning will prepare them to stand firm in their faith.

In short, teenagers need a grown-up worldview, not coloring book Jesus.

We can do better.

By the time teenagers should be owning their faith, we've already lost their attention and the culture has captured their imagination.

Contrary to what you may have heard, Christian faith is not blind. Christianity is not a fairytale for grown-ups invented to make ourselves feel better. Followers of Jesus have nothing to fear from tough questions, honest doubts, and challenging conversations. Gen Z needs to know that Christians care about truth.
Attendance Is Not Enough
We need to reject the idea that if teenagers just attend church enough they will build a strong faith. The attendance model is not working-training is necessary.

As one of our students shared with me this past summer, "I know why I am a Christian now...I know it's true. I am able to defend my faith and live my life out for him [Jesus] in ways I wasn't before." Training makes all the difference.

Whether we are in the majority or being marginalized, our charge as followers of Jesus is to be faithful to pass on our faith to the next generation.

As our post-Christian culture increasingly marginalizes Christianity, it is critical for those of us who care about Gen Z not to take a business-as-usual approach to their formation. If we do nothing they will be shaped away from life with God. We have the opportunity to reimagine what passing on our faith to the next generation looks like in this unique cultural moment. But first, we must stop pretending.

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Why Generation Z is less Christian than ever -- and why that's good news

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Gen Z-the generation following the millennials-is the least Christian generation to date, according to a new Barna study - 34 percent of Gen Z's religious affiliation is either atheist, agnostic or none. In fact, teens 13-18 years old are twice as likely as adults to say they are atheist.