Dr John Allan stated that Generation Alpha, many of whom are now approaching adulthood, are clear about what they want from their future. However, many do not feel ready for what comes next, particularly regarding the confidence, independence, and practical skills needed to navigate life after education.
The Central Statistics Office has been surveying the same group of people born in 1998 since they were nine years old, releasing reports at key moments in their adolescence.
The latest figures show 58% of eligible 18- to 24-year-olds have registered for the Maori roll, up from 50% in 2023. This increase follows years of tense relations between Indigenous New Zealanders and the centre-right coalition government.
The number of suicides per 100,000 young people ages 10 to 24 declined by nearly 12 percent, from 11 to 9.7, between 2021 and 2024. The decrease was driven largely by reductions among young men, whose suicide levels fell by nearly 15 percent, while suicides among young women declined by about 2 percent.
Just this week our prime minister announced that the government is giving police officers new powers to move on rough sleepers or people displaying disorderly behaviour in town and city centres. Breaching an order risks a fine of up to NZ$2,000 or three-month jail term. Instead of investing in infrastructure to support the most vulnerable members of our community, authorities want to sweep the problem under the rug and punish them for it.
Abbie Beggs is a business owner and content creator. In 2020, during the first Covid-19 lockdown, when she was 20 and facing into her final year at university, she decided to launch Bound Apparel to fill a gap she identified in the market. There were plenty of leggings suitable for time spent at the gym, but what about the other hours of the day?
BBC Jodie was surrounded by smiling faces at her 21st birthday party, but most were people she had not known for more than a month. The party had been organised for her by the London International Christian Church - a Bible-based non-denominational church, according to their website - into which she had recently been baptised. She was told by her "discipler", or church mentor, she says, that she could not invite any friends from outside the church - only a handful of family members.
When your child turns 18, graduates school and becomes an adult, you momentarily feel the finality of their childhood. Cue: tears. Endings bring memories to the fore, and rather than reflect on the big celebrations and milestones, I find myself capturing glimpses of the most ordinary days accompanied by a visceral longing for what was: his curious face in the rear-view mirror as I drove, a small hand tugging on my skirt, the lull of his sleepy body curled into mine.
With these new features, Snap is likely looking to appease regulators and parents over concerns about safety and screen time on its platform. Parents can now see the average amount of time their teen spent on Snapchat each day over the previous week. They can see how this time breaks down across different parts of the app, including chatting, snapping, creating with the camera, using Snap Map, or watching content on Spotlight and Stories.
He began by characterizing what I had written as "fascinating," which could have meant a multitude of things coming from a teenager. He then explained that his eighth-grade English class included recent discussions about immigrant pursuits of the American dream. Accordingly, one major takeaway from those conversations with his teacher and peers was that many people come to the U.S. because it is perceived as a land of opportunity.
Overall, YouTube has proved to be the most used platform by both UK and US consumers (88% and 89% respectively). In the UK, YouTube is the number one platform of choice for Gen Z, being used by 93% of consumers. Whilst YouTube is the most popular platform in the US across all generations, with Meta nipping at its heels, Millennials are the generation using YouTube the most (93%).
There are real technical limitations to accurate and dependable age verification. The Australian government's own trial, published in 2025, found that available age estimation technology was only accurate to within 2-3 years on average. In practice, this means some young people under 16 may be able to bypass protections, potentially leaving them with reduced safeguards, while others over 16 may incorrectly lose access.
Dr Jared Cooney Horvath, a former teacher-turned-neuroscientist, revealed that the generation born between 1997 and the early 2010s has been cognitively stunted by their over-reliance on digital technology in school. Since records have been kept on cognitive development in the late 1800s, Gen Z is now officially the first group to ever score lower than the generation before them, declining in attention, memory, reading and math skills, problem-solving abilities, and overall IQ.
For today's young people, online content isn't a backdrop to daily life-it is daily life. Streaming platforms, short-form video, and social media don't just entertain; they influence how young people see themselves, their health, and what behaviors are seen as normal or aspirational. Movies, television, and streaming content still have influence, but as the digital ecosystem expands, so does its power to shape choices-for better and for worse.
Walk through any coffee shop these days and you'll notice something interesting. The twenty-somethings hunched over their laptops look somehow more weathered than the thirty-somethings chatting nearby. At first, I thought it was just me projecting, maybe feeling defensive about approaching my mid-thirties. But then the research started backing up what many of us have been quietly observing: millennials born between 1985 and 1995 often appear younger than their Gen Z counterparts.
