(NEXSTAR) – A survey of Gen Zers in America has found that they’re less inclined to describe themselves as “thriving” when compared to Gen Zers in previous years.

The annual Voices of Gen Z study, conducted by Gallup in partnership with the Walton Family Foundation, seeks to gain insight “the experiences of Gen Z” and their attitudes toward their futures, their education and their engagement at school. But the study also aims to determine the percentage that perceive themselves as “thriving,” which Gallup defines as the percentage who feel positively about their lives and feel confident about maintaining that positive outlook for at least five years.

In the 2025 survey, 45% of participants described themselves as thriving — a drop from the 49% who considered themselves thriving in 2024, and the 47% who said the same in the 2023 study. This drop appears to be fueled by adult members of Gen Z (the study surveyed participants aged 13–28), with only 39% seeing themselves as thriving.

“The primary driver of the decline in life evaluation from 2024 to 2025 is the life evaluation of adult Gen Z women: 46% of women were thriving in 2024, compared with 37% in 2025,” according to the study. “At the same time, thriving among Gen Z men remained steady from 2024 to 2025 (44% vs. 45%).”