Gen Z expects to own a pet rather than be parents - why is that?

Generation Z believe they are more likely to own a pet in their lives than become a parent, a survey of young people in more than 30 countries has found.

The 2026 Life Aspirations Report from global market research firm Ipsos explored how people view a successful life today, and found traditional economic security dominates people's definitions of success.

The top markers of a successful life were having a stable full-time job (65%), owning a home (58%), moving out of home and into your own place (35%), becoming a parent (31%), getting married (25%) and owning a pet (16%).

But the report found that in western countries, Generation Z — those born between 1997 and 2012 — were more likely to expect to own a pet than become a parent.

"Almost six-in-ten Gen Z in our selection of European and North American markets have either already owned a pet as an adult or expect they’ll do so in their lifetime (58%). Just 44% say the same of becoming a parent," the report noted.

Gen Z were also the most likely generation to say they would feel sad if they never reached major milestones including owning a home, having a stable job, moving into their own home, becoming a parent and getting married.

The report's central finding was that younger generations still aspire to traditional milestones but were much less confident of achieving them, and that younger people's lower expectations stem from barriers to achievement, rather than a lack of aspiration.

Statistics NZ's latest population figures released earlier this week showed the country's birth rate was sitting at its lowest increase since the early 1940s, during World War II, with the total fertility rate at 1.51 births per woman in the 12 months to June 2026, down from 1.57 last year.

The topic was also recently brought back into the zeitgeist by New Zealand First, who announced an election policy offering financial compensation for New Zealanders to have more children.

Senior economist at Infometrics Brad Olsen told 1News he "wasn't particularly surprised by that finding", saying that when life milestones shift this was generally a reflection of society driven by the economic environment underpinning big life decisions.

"I think sometimes people make the point that all of this is driven because societal expectations change, but I don't know if they do change," he said.

"I don't think people are sitting there going 'you know what? I hate kids and I love dogs'. I think it's more that financially there's a bit more pressure, and then you layer over the other social considerations."

He said some of the societal pressures and economic ones tangled together, such as the average age at which people were buying their first home or having their first child.

"Back in the day people studied or got into a trade, had a good job, had a partner, had a kid, and could buy a house all before the age of 30. Now that's not the case to quite the same degree today.

"We're seeing that motherhood is starting later. That house buying is starting later, and part of that is also because of those sort of financial pressures."

In New Zealand, he said home ownership levels were "still high", and pointed to figures released by Cotality just this week showing houses were actually becoming more affordable compared to four or five years ago.

"That is actually making it easier. Prices have come down materially. People's incomes generally are improving," he explained.

"You always see surveys that sort of say that the youngest generation are like 'man, life sucks, and it's going to be really tough, and all these things are a real struggle'. And if you interview them 20 years later, not everyone will be sorted, but a lot of the time they say 'OK, I did actually manage to do that, it just looked pretty hard because I didn't have it yet'."

Olsen added that there "isn't a usual pathway for these tick boxes now", and people did not need to check everything off the traditional list to feel content and fulfilled in their lives.

"When I talk to friends and they're like, 'oh I haven't done this yet, I haven't done that', and I'm like 'One, you don't have to do them in order. And two, you don't have to tick all those boxes off at all these days'."

Despite stereotypes about younger people having different priorities, the survey found strong agreement across generations about what constitutes success.

Sociologist and senior fellow at Centre for Informed Futures, Paul Spoonley, said one of the possible reasons Gen Z were delaying starting a family, or not starting one at all, was due to heightened global insecurity.

"When we look at, for example, when they set up a relationship, a partnership, when they buy a house, when they start thinking about whether or not they have children, all of those things are occurring later in life.

"They're not getting enough money because they're working in the gig economy, they haven't got their forever job, they might not ever get their forever job, and they're certainly not likely to be house owners.

"So I think some of the things we think about as coming of age, getting a degree, getting a partner, getting your own home, having a good job all of those things are becoming more precarious and we need to acknowledge the insecurity of these Generation Zers and the world that they inhabit,” he explained.

The report said "every generation was less confident than the one before it about reaching major milestones".

Spoonley said "poor old Gen Zers tend to get a bit of a bad rap", and cautioned against generalising about what an entire generation places value upon.

"I mean, when we were doing surveys of employers they were highly critical of Gen Zers, they didn't think they had good values, they didn't think they were loyal to the workplace, and there is some truth to that but I think we need to be careful about generalisation.”

He said, in short, "the world is a much more complex place" than it used to be to raise a family in.

"Having to make decisions in this case about whether or not you have children, it's become that much more difficult and challenging, and I think we need to acknowledge that.”

"[Generation Z are] making decisions according to their world views and their experiences, which are very different from mine as a baby boomer."

According to the report, men were more likely than women to view marriage and parenthood as an important marker of success.

Spoonley said this was likely reflected in New Zealand populations, as women achieve more in tertiary education and delay having children to pursue career prospects.

"So there are personal reasons why they're deciding not to have children, but I think that the external reasons, both in New Zealand but also internationally, are making them feel more insecure."