Gen Z is moving towards conservatism in the United States, exemplified by their lofty salary goals.
In a survey conducted by Axios of 2,203 Americans, Gen Z participants reported that they consider a yearly salary of just under US$600,000 (A$932,284.80) to be financially successful.
This is roughly six times higher than what any other generation said, and nine times higher than the national average salary in the U.S.
There are many contributing factors to Gen Z’s financial attitudes.
This includes angst, with head of communications at Empower, Rebecca Rickert telling Axios that many people feel like they are coming up short, with half believing they are less financially successful in comparison to their peers.
"The majority think prosperity is harder to achieve for their generation, which factors into the magic number people attach to success,” she said.
Another contributing factor is the high cost of living.
"Sure, groceries, student loan payments, the cost of going out to restaurants and bars all matter — but 'feeling successful' when you have to have a roommate to afford rent undermines all capacity for consumption," David Bahnsen, whose California-based Bahnsen Group manages $6.5 billion in assets, tells Axios.
Other factors contributing to Gen Z lofty expectations include the lavish lifestyle of influencers and mismatched expectations.
Bahsen suggests that the right-leaning political shift in the younger generation could come from a hope that changing government could help alleviate financial stress.
"I suspect some young people have moved right because the party they perceive as in power when this financial tension is escalating has been the Democrats — that it is more of an anti-incumbency thing than anything else," Bahnsen told Axios.
Studies also show that while Gen Z is pessimistic about the present, they are often optimistic for the future, with 43% of Americans under 30 saying that the economy was getting better, with no other age group was above 27% in a CBS survey.
The CBS survey also found that 56% of Americans under 30 were either excited or optimistic about what Trump will do.