Fear of eating out

There can be no doubt that the cost of living crisis is taking its toll: but while we all are more cost conscious, personally I wasn’t prepared for what a study by the British restaurant chain Prezzo found: 86% Gen Z (that’s people born from the mid-1990s to the early 2010s) encounters “menu anxiety,” a sensation of stress and unease when confronted with a restaurant menu. Of the more than 2000 people asked, 34% of 18- to 24-year-olds confessing they ask other people at their table to speak to the waiter on their behalf. And the cost of a meal out certainly matters to Gen Z, with almost 40% saying they simply wouldn’t go out for dinner if they couldn’t check the menu first.

But then Gen Z in general seems to be an insecure bunch: Research out of Australia shows that 90 percent are anxious about speaking on the phone. But also jobs, long-term financial stability and major life steps, such as buying a home and starting a family rank prominently among their concerns according to an EY study in the US. As their report notes, the general level of worry has increased over the past 4 years across all 5 Gen Z segments identified by EY.

Millennials, also known as Generation Y (representing those born between 1981 and 1996) are also the first generation to have their lives simultaneously documented as they live them through social media. Only just short of half of millennials rate their mental health as good or excellent. Financial worries rank prominently among their worries, as does climate change and social media. The numerous social media apps millennials are constantly logged into are seen to play a major role in shaping their perception of the world. It also influences where they believe they fit in. Not quite surprisingly this group also seems to be the loneliest due to a lack of authentic connection with peers, family members, colleagues and their own selves.

Gen Xers, people born between roughly the mid-1960s and the early 1980s have their concerns too, which include financial stability, retirement planning, the well-being of their children, and the changing landscape of work and technology. Additionally, societal and political uncertainties can contribute to the anxieties felt by individuals within this generation. According to a survey in December 2022 by New York Life, an insurance company, 68% of this generation were most concerned about the impact inflation would have on their finances, while 39% of Gen Xers felt stressed and a further 37% anxious about their financial situation in general.

In the U.K. 36% of Gen Xers surveyed in 2022 said they have a health problem or lived with a disability. 15% of Gen Xers (rising to 17% of those aged 50 to 55) said their health limits their ability to work or renders them unable to work. Moreover many 40- to 55-year-olds are unable to save because they are overwhelmed by multiple financial pressures, struggling with volatile incomes and juggling competing priorities including caring, debts and mortgages. Overall it seems that in 2023 money worries were affecting all generations except the baby boomers.

The baby boomers (of which I am one), generally born between 1946 and 1964 in the U.K. are worried about old age but fail to prepare for it. A worrying thought considering the Office of National Statistics’ (ONS) prediction that there will be almost 20 million people living in the country aged 65 years and over by 2028, an increase of 80% from today’s 11 million. Already there are some 1.5 million British who don’t get the care they need, yet almost one-in-five (18%) of 59-77 year olds are not preparing themselves physically or mentally for older age.

In conclusion, whatever generation you belong to, and probably wherever you live in the world, something is bothering you! But it’s the priorities that matter and somehow I fear it doesn’t bode well for their future if Gen Zers biggest phobia right now is eating out and talking to waiters… or considering the state our planet and society is in, they should consider themselves lucky being oblivious to the bigger issues we face.

And on this note a very happy, healthy and prosperous new year to you all!