New Data Shows Gen Z Teens Don’t Care About Driving Due to Anxiety

Once considered an exciting birthday simply for the sake of driving, turning 16 for Gen Z isn’t as exciting as it was a decade ago.

Data from the Department of Transportation reveals that many Gen Z teens are completely uninterested in getting their driver’s license, but the reasons are more complex than you might think.

New data reveals that Gen Z teens no longer worry about getting a driver’s license, in part because of their mental health.

Government statistics reveal that in the United States, only 1 in 25 licensed drivers are Generation Z – a much lower percentage than older generations of the same age.

However, the accessibility of ride-sharing apps like Uber and increasing access to technology is only part of the conversation around these data changes.

Clinical mental health counselor Joanna von Staden, who works with young children and teenagers from Generation Z, says there is a clear link between mental health problems and younger generations’ hesitancy to drive.

RELATED: Gen Z College Student Accuses ‘Girlhood’ of Letting Random Man Parallel Park Her BMW After Trying for 15 Minutes

Adult anxiety, as well as mental health issues, have kept many Gen Zers from getting their licenses.

“The disinterest actually comes from a level of anxiety,” von Staden explained, “especially about the idea of ​​getting older and taking on this enormous responsibility.”

Reports commissioned by Nextbase, an in-car camera company investigating road rage incidents, found that more than 79% of all drivers in the United States have experienced an aggressive driving incident or accident, which which confirms the fears of many young drivers on the road. And from a well-intentioned perspective, many parents are accommodating these fears, putting alternative options in place to compensate for their children not having a license.

However, it’s not just this anxiety on the road that’s causing Gen Z to avoid driver’s education, as von Staden argues: it’s also the impending end of adulthood. With financial stress, job market chaos, and precarious educational pathways, the “freedom” of adulthood that begins with a driver’s license can be overwhelming.

seventy four | Shutterstock.com

Gen Z also struggles to find community outside of the internet, especially given the deterioration of “third places.” Leaving home has become a chore that often doesn’t offer them the connection they crave and usually costs money.

“He spends a lot of time playing video games,” Dawn Johnson, a Northern Virginia mother, admitted of her teenage son. “That’s where his community is.” So he doesn’t really need to go anywhere.

RELATED: 10 Things Gen X Kids Did Growing Up That Would Make Gen Z Cry

Aside from mental health issues, many Gen Zers face financial barriers to getting their driver’s license and buying a car.

Of course, it would be wildly ignorant to suggest that this decline in Gen Zers with driver’s licenses is simply a mental health issue. There is also plenty of evidence to suggest that financial difficulties are the real obstacles.

Aside from the general maintenance costs of owning a car, such as purchasing gasoline, oil changes and routine body checks – which have already increased significantly in recent years – affordability even buying a car is almost impossible.

Living paycheck to paycheck, juggling student loan payments, and facing the burden of rising rents, it can seem impossible for many young people to even consider affording an expense. like a car.

More than half of Gen Z consider affordability the biggest barrier to buying a car, and among those who got their license and bought a car with financial assistance, 38% admit they live beyond their means.

So while anxiety and mental health issues certainly impact Gen Z’s apparent disinterest in buying cars and getting their driver’s licenses, it’s not Not surprisingly, these are intrinsically linked to financial concerns and instability.

RELATED: Gen Z with a 6-figure savings account wonders why they’re saving money since they can’t afford a home

Zayda Slabbekoorn is a news and entertainment editor at YourTango focusing on health and wellness, social policy and human interest stories.