Adults often see things like smartphones, same-day delivery, and ride-sharing apps and think, Teens have it made! Sure, those things make life more convenient, but they don’t tell the whole story of what it’s like to grow up today.

We surveyed 1,000 teens and 1,000 adults to find out if adults really understand what teens are going through. Here’s what we learned:

Nearly 40% of teens believe life is actually harder now than it was when their parents were teens, with girls feeling it more acutely than boys (42% versus 31%). “Adults think we’re lazy, but we’re dealing with pressures they never had to worry about,” says a 17-year-old female from Connecticut. Indeed, many of today’s challenges – from cyberbullying to college admissions hyper competition – simply didn’t exist a generation ago.

Even adults are divided. When asked to compare today’s teens to their own teenage years, 43% of adults believe teens have it easier, but 40% say teens today have it harder. That split shows just how tricky it is to compare generational experiences. The truth? Every generation has its own struggles. But instead of debating who had it worse, we can build stronger connections by trying to understand what teens today are really dealing with – and showing up with empathy and curiosity.

The generational divide runs deep, but understanding it is the first step to connecting with Gen Z.

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