They are afraid of migrants, remote work and do not have sex. Scientists have studied Generation Z

They were supposed to be demanding, thinking only of themselves and prioritizing their private lives over their professional ones. It turned out that they are lonely, uncertain about their own gender, reluctant to work remotely - CBOS has just surveyed Generation Z. "Rzeczpospolita" has learned the results of this report.

– Contrary to various media reports or expert statements, Generation Z is not that different from the millennial generation. They are not from another planet. Of course, they are different in some respects, but I have the impression that in the case of the younger generation, individual attitudes are determined by gender, not just age – Dr. Jonathan Scovil, sociologist and co-author of the study, tells “Rzeczpospolita”.

The media is full of widely read articles about how difficult it is to work with Generation Z, who want to work remotely so they can drink matcha with soy milk at a café with friends. Meanwhile, research does not confirm this stereotype – only 15% indicated the possibility of remote work as a decisive criterion when taking a job. This is the same number of responses as in Generation Y.

What is important to Zs? Good earnings (65%), a good working atmosphere and good relationships with other employees (32%), and work-life balance (29%). "We asked them what income they would consider to be enough to live a good life. The majority of them declared that their net income was between PLN 5,000 and PLN 6,000. It's not a staggering sum," says Scovil. "The claim that they have a disdainful attitude towards work is exaggerated," he adds.

But what distinguishes young people from their parents? – Generation Z is slightly more likely to agree, for example, with the statement that they could skip work to take care of their mental health at a given moment. Or that they would not agree to work while on vacation – the researcher points out.

However, while work is not a major problem, issues related to sexuality or gender identity are a challenge for them. In the study, young Poles were asked to place themselves on a masculinity-femininity scale, where 1 meant "completely masculine" and 7 "completely feminine". Only less than half chose the extreme points of the scale (45%), and more than one in ten did not place themselves closer to the masculine or feminine pole (11%). One in five men identified as more feminine than masculine (21%), while only one in twenty women placed themselves on the masculine side of the scale (5%). "I was surprised by this result, I did not expect it at all," says Dr. Scovil directly, adding that at first glance it seems difficult to reconcile this with the fact that young men clearly have right-wing views. "This shows that in the face of today's chaos surrounding patterns of masculinity, young men adopt extremely different attitudes. They more often try to stick to these old, traditional patterns, but it also happens that they, in a way, "opt out" of masculinity, not finding for themselves any sensible model of being a man, the researcher says.

Because what should he really be like? First of all, he should be polite towards women: 88% of respondents believe that he should let women through the door, 61% – pay for them on dates, and 81% require them to know how to drive a car. Can he cry? Definitely yes – 69% of respondents protested against the stereotype that men should not show weakness.

In turn, what should a woman be like? Pretty and well-groomed (70 percent of responses) and not have too many sexual partners (47 percent). However, she doesn't have to be nice all the time (53 percent of negative votes), or take care of the children (72 percent) or prepare meals for the family (58 percent). Do young men like that? Not really - studies show that they were much more likely to defend the traditional division of roles. "I think that's one of the reasons why young men are more inclined to right-wing views and support such groups," says Scovil.

The difference in the perception of the role of women and men translates into relationships and how often young people have sex today. "In this block of questions about their social, emotional, and erotic lives, the thesis that this generation suffers from loneliness more often kept coming back to us," says Scovil.

This is a bit of a paradox, because when asked about their social lives, young people said that they had a very extensive one. Only one in ten respondents had no friends or only one. Most indicated that they had more than four. How often do the Zs meet up with their friends? As many as 65% of respondents said that they meet up at least a few times a month. And face to face, because despite the growing importance of social media, most prefer direct contact.

Relationships, on the other hand, are more difficult. Among Generation Z (18–29 years old), the percentage of people who are not in a relationship is as high as 44%. Is this the result of what has long been said – that women who look to the left cannot get along with men who look to the right? Yes and no. Studies show that among men, the percentage of single people is very similar, regardless of their political views, and remains in the range of 26–30%.

This is more visible among women – young Polish women with leftist views are indeed significantly more often lonely (35% compared to 27% of Polish women with right-wing views and 17% of those with centrist views). – Young women, especially left-wing women, often more often than other groups declared various negative emotional states, or a sense of loneliness, frustration and sadness – says Scovil, adding that this may be the result of young women simply admitting to being lonely more often.

There is also the issue of sexual activity. "Among the youngest respondents, the percentage of people who are sexually inactive is strikingly higher than in other age groups," the researcher says. The data shows that as many as one in three Poles aged between 18 and 24 have not had sex in the last 12 months, and 8% of people in that age group have never had sex.

Sexual abstinence was also above average among pupils and students (43%), those currently not in a relationship (52%) and those practicing religion several times a week (33%). Among the youngest Poles, the percentage of sexually inactive people is noticeably higher among right-wing men (40% compared to 25% in the left-wing group) and among left-wing women (34% compared to 23% in the right-wing group), the research shows.