Wright State faculty member Corey Seemiller talks to ‘Marketplace’ about Gen Z and the economy

Corey Seemiller, professor of leadership studies in education and organizations at Wright State

Corey Seemiller, Ph.D., professor of leadership studies in education and organizations at Wright State University, was featured in a story about how the U.S. economy has affected members of Gen Z on American Public Media’s “Marketplace.”

“This generation’s often called the recession babies,” said Seemiller, who studies Gen Zers, or people born between 1995 and 2010. “My daughter was actually born in 2009. So it’s not like they remember the recession. But what they do experience and have experienced was sort of a tightening of the belts.”

They saw their parents lose jobs. Maybe downsize their homes. And Seemiller said everyone told them, “Don’t worry! Life-changing economic events don’t happen that often.”

“And then COVID comes along,” she said. And along with it? Inflation.

Seemiller said this lifetime of unpredictability has made Gen Zers risk-averse. They have a scarcity mindset like people who came of age during the Great Depression.

“What happens between ages 14 and 24 in our lives tend to impact us in ways that we carry with us through our lifetimes more so than events that happen at other stages of our lives,” Seemiller said.

Listen or read the story, “This economy will leave a mark on Gen Z,” at marketplace.org.