Gen Z, the demographic cohort born between 1997 and 2012, exhibits the lowest level of interpersonal trust among all generations, with just 13% of individuals in this group indicating that most people can be trusted. This finding stems from a recent poll analyzed by political scientist Ryan Burge of Washington University, utilizing data from the General Social Survey spanning from 2021 to 2024.
Conversely, 74% of Gen Z respondents expressed a cautious outlook, believing that "you can't be too careful." This represents a stark decline from 2018, when just over 20% of Gen Z held the belief that most people were trustworthy. The data points to a particularly steep drop in interpersonal trust for this age group around 2020, coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Other generations show higher, though still cautious, levels of trust. Millennials, born between 1981 and 1996, saw 24% express trust in others, with 67% leaning towards caution. Generation X (born 1965-1980) and Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964) reported similar trust levels, at 30% and 29% respectively. The Silent Generation, born between 1928 and 1945, emerged as the most trusting, with 41% believing most people could be relied upon, and 51% advocating for carefulness.
Data also indicates a correlation between educational attainment and trust levels across all generations. Individuals with college degrees were more likely to trust others compared to those with a high school diploma or less. For Gen Z, 67% with a four-year degree or higher expressed mistrust, compared to 80% of those with a high school diploma or less. This disparity was even more pronounced among millennials, where 48% of college-educated individuals mistrusted others, versus 82% of their peers without higher education.
Burge noted that without a significant increase in trust, Gen Z is projected to become the least trusting generation in modern American history based on current polling trends over the past fifty years.