Generation Z is coming of age in a period of profound social, economic and political change that manifests as growing barriers to economic independence: from insecure work and unaffordable housing to unequal or insufficient access to care. These pressures matter not only for how young people imagine their futures, but also for how they understand inequality, institutions and politics.
Gender remains an important part of this picture: young women and men can experience these same structural pressures differently, develop different understandings of equality and fairness, and, ultimately, translate these experiences into different electoral behaviours. At the same time, social media platforms have become the primary spaces where young people encounter political ideas and debates about feminism, masculinity, gender equality and social change. These digital environments can sharpen existing divisions – interacting with wider economic and political realities. Yet, they are not determining young people’s views on their own.
This raises further questions about how gender, an uncertain economic future, political actions and social media are connected. How do young people make sense of their experiences of inequality and insecurity? How are these experiences shaped by the gendered expectations and political narratives they encounter online? And how might these attitudes translate into electoral choices? Rather than reducing Gen Z politics to a simple divide between young women and men, these questions invite us to consider how gender, material conditions and digital culture intersect in shaping the political choices of a generation.
