This year, the oldest members of Generation Z turn 29 – putting them right at the peak marriage age, according to national averages: 30.2 years for men and 28.6 for women.
Gen Zers, born approximately 1997-2012, were truly born into a new world. They’re the first “digital natives” – meaning they grew up online, they don’t know a life before smartphones and social media. They lived through a scary global pandemic and long lockdown during their most formative years, missing out on major social milestones. They’ve witnessed serious social and political unrest. The specter of the climate crisis looms large.
How does it all affect them and shape their values? What does Gen Z care about?
Growing up in turbulent economic times has made them value practicality and prudence; they’re financially cautious and budget-conscious. They’re socially aware, dedicated to diversity and inclusivity, and value racial justice, LGBTQ rights, and gender equality. They’re worried about the planet, but they’re also pragmatic, proactive, collaborative problem-solvers. When it comes to work, they prize flexibility, independence, work-life balance, and open communication.
As consumers, they prefer companies and brands they can trust to be transparent and ethical. Having experienced stressful times, they tend to be anxious, but they’re also tuned into mental health issues, prioritizing self-care and self-development. In terms of core values, they say, they prize authenticity above all – perhaps that’s in response to so much screentime, digital life, and over-exposure to the artifice and excesses of social media.
Of course, it’s important to remember that no generation is a monolith – naturally, where there are trends, there are also countertrends and outliers. It’s also true that there aren’t hard lines between the generations – it’s more of a cross-dissolve, from, say, young Millennials to older Gen Zers.
Nonetheless, recent research has revealed some interesting and unexpected patterns among Gen Zers regarding their thinking about one specific topic: marriage.
While there’s some overlap with Millennials in attitude and approach to matrimony, in other ways Gen Z is looking at it in new ways – and some researchers believe Gen Z might significantly shift marriage trends.
Several recent polls, including The Times Generation Z study (2025) and a Her Campus Media survey (2024), have found that Gen Z is more traditional than you might imagine when it comes to sex, relationships, and tying the knot.
Consider these key findings:
62% of Gen Zers reported not having one-night stands; only 23% say they do. (Compare those stats to young Millennials polled in 2004, when 78% said they have sex on the first date, and only 19% rejected casual encounters.)
Research has also found that Gen Z is having less sex overall. A CDC survey of teens in 2021 found that only 30% had had sex, compared to 50% 30 years ago. The trend was already identified pre-pandemic, but experts note it’s also related to lockdown – a swath of young people having missed out on a key period of social interaction and sexual exploration.
Today, 21% of Gen Z says marriage is “irrelevant” – but 20 years ago, nearly 40% of Millennials thought so.
In the Her survey, 40% of polled Gen Zers were currently in a relationship; 27% were seeking one; and a whopping 93% said they were interested in marriage, if not already on their way to the altar.
For earlier generations, marriage was an expectation – not only a personal rite of passage but an economic necessity, especially for women. With that no longer the case, GenZ wants to marry for love – they say they’re looking for “the one”, a “soulmate.”
Some of their idealism may, paradoxically, stem from pandemic lockdowns, experts say – forced isolation having caused them to romanticize love. In this regard, technology is a double-edged sword: on the one hand, it has driven a well-documented loneliness epidemic; on the other hand, being limited to digital connection (as opposed to physical and sexual) for a long, critical period may have spurred young people to invest more deeply in emotional connection and desire long-term partnership.
Then again, they’re not in a hurry.
I Do, But Maybe Not Yet
One thing Gen Z and Millennials have in common is waiting. Both of these younger generations tend to get married a bit later in life. The average age of marriage in the 1970s and 80s was early 20s, compared to around 30 now.
Many cite the expense of a wedding itself as one deterrent. But there are also factors specific to Gen Z that make marrying later appealing. They want to finish their education, advance in their careers, and achieve financial and housing stability before getting married. They also tend to approve of cohabitation before tying the knot.
Gen Z’s optimism and idealism about marriage don’t necessarily align with conservative values. Despite the notable #tradwife trend and right-wing pressure for a return to old-fashioned family structures, it seems that one reason much of Gen Z takes a positive view of getting hitched is their progressive stance on gender roles and norms – an expectation of equality, flexibility, and good boundaries within couplehood. They’re a generation that believes in doing it their own way – redefining marriage for themselves.
Experts say some of this may just be youthful idealism that doesn’t translate to major change. But in the US, where the marriage rate has been plunging for over 50 years, researchers are also speculating that Gen Z could turn the tide – not just in numbers but in creating stronger, healthier modern marriages.
The experienced and caring family attorneys at SFLG help couples prepare for marriage by creating practical, effective prenuptial agreements. And if you’ve made the difficult decision to divorce, we’re here to guide you through the process with trust, integrity, compassion, and communication.
By Debra Schoenberg
