8 Things Boomers & Gen X Call Luxuries That Gen Z Sees As Everyday Life
DragonImages via Canva What people spend their money on is so personal, no matter how much they make. However, there are generational trends and collective experiences that shape how different age groups spend and invest, as well as save their money.
Because of how they grew up, boomers and Gen Xers call many things luxuries. But Gen Z actually sees these same things as everyday life.
Boomers and Gen X call these things luxuries, but Gen Z sees them as everyday life:
1. Going out to eat
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Most older generations perceive going out to eat or spending an evening at a restaurant to be a luxury. However, for young people seeking community amid the chaos, these moments have transformed into their new third spaces. They now have to pay for community and connection, even with money and resources they don't always have.
While they're a natural part of life for Gen Zers who appreciate and need these spaces, for older generations, they're simply an experience to invest in.
2. Phone contacts and notes
Most Gen Xers spent their entire childhoods and young adult years memorizing people's phone numbers for the landline at home. Even boomers had to write down and memorize all kinds of information at work or home, compared to their Gen Z counterparts who have a phone in their back pocket at all times.
Whether it's taking notes for them at work or just keeping passwords in a safe place, these are small, everyday luxuries that Gen Zers take completely for granted.
3. Overnight delivery
While there are all kinds of reasons why the convenience of delivery services and Amazon Prime aren't necessarily healthy for anyone, they are certainly luxuries to older generations. Especially when ordering online used to mean months of waiting, these new delivery systems make instant gratification possible.
Whatever you want, you can buy it and have it almost immediately. Whether it's groceries without having to leave the house or a new outfit for a trip, convenience is a luxury that too many young people today can't help but take for granted.
4. Organic foods
For Gen Zers, nutritional foods and access to organic options might be a splurge financially, but it's an essential, nonnegotiable part of their lives. Especially when so many can't fathom saving for larger expenses like a home, they're taking care of their health and wellness in these accessible ways amid everyday life.
However, for many Gen Xers and boomers who have been taught to live frugally, even if that meant purchasing processed foods, they're luxuries. Going to Whole Foods and buying only organic produce is a special occasion.
5. Uber
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If you're a Gen Z person, you know firsthand how groundbreaking teaching a parent or grandparent about Uber was for the first time. You probably remember the conversation, clarifying that it wasn't that you were getting a private car, but a ride from a stranger.
While that brought up red flags for many at first, the idea that you could Uber home from a night out or get a ride to the airport without needing to coordinate between a million people is a luxury. Especially for older people who don't live close to public transportation, having these options is now an essential part of daily life.
6. Working from home
Many Gen Z people expect flexibility at work and need some kind of hybrid structure to feel secure in their jobs, compared to older generations who have largely only ever known in-person workplace environments. They've grown the skills they need to thrive in these in-person environments, coveting the time off they could spend at home, and now, the luxury of remote work is here.
For young workers, not having remote work is a huge problem. For Gen Xers and boomers, it's clearly a luxury that they've only ever associated with exceptions and time off.
7. Ice and water fridge dispensers
An invention of the late 1980s, water dispensers and automatic ice machines built into refrigerators were still a complete luxury by the time Gen Xers and boomers were adults. Despite being an expectation for young people today, many of whom consider manual ice trays a thing of the past, they're still simple indulgences of older generations.
While modern people today are often pressured into overconsumerism for fancy tools and appliances they don't need, these small things still mean something to so many people.
8. Voice assistants
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Even though growing up and adapting to new technology is how Gen Xers became the bridge between older and younger generations at work, there are certainly still things that feel out of place as a luxury in their daily routines. Whether that's voice assistants like Alexa or AI expectations at work, sometimes the convenience of modern technology is impossible not to marvel over.
The same goes for boomers, who spent the majority of their lives without cell phones and the internet. Having a voice assistant listening is strange, but also somewhat of a luxury.
Zayda Slabbekoorn is a senior editorial strategist with a bachelor's degree in social relations & policy and gender studies who focuses on psychology, relationships, self-help, and human interest stories.
