This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Young people are facing a future that feels increasingly uncertain. Although every generation experiences turbulence while navigating adolescence, the pressures experienced by Gen Z—those born between 1997 and 2012—are different and seem more pervasive.
From climate change and mental health concerns to academic pressure, housing costs, job and economic insecurity, today's young people are navigating a complex set of expectations. Understanding their frustrations, including those expressed through protests across Europe, requires looking beyond individual experiences to the social conditions shaping their lives. Adolescence has long been seen as a period of "storm and stress." This reflects a belief that adolescence is a universal and inevitable period of emotional turmoil, behavioral conflict and identity crisis.
However, this belief has been increasingly challenged. Rather than being defined solely by difficulty and disruption, adolescence is increasingly viewed as a period of possibility, opportunity and growth. Yet realizing that potential depends heavily on the social environments in which young people grow up.
A growing body of evidence highlights adolescence as a critical developmental period with profound implications for future health and well-being. There is also increasing recognition that adolescence extends well beyond the teenage years and well into the 20s. Young people today grow up under more intense and often overlapping pressures than previous generations did.
Evidence from the World Health Organization's Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study suggests that school-related pressure increased between 2002 and 2022 across many countries. In 2022, among 15-year-old girls, almost two-thirds reported feeling pressured by schoolwork, compared with less than half of boys. The same research documented declines in perceived family and peer support.
In other words, young people appear to be facing increasing demands while some of the social resources that help them cope with those demands are weakening. Parental expectations and criticism have also intensified in many contexts. Success is increasingly framed as an individual responsibility, while educational pathways have become more competitive.
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