National surveys track national and Get Z specific inflation views

The most recent High Point University Poll finds the country as a whole and Generation Z respondents (people ages 18-29 years old) continue to have concerns about inflation.

Two HPU Poll surveys asked a national all-adult sample (n = 1000) and a separate national Generation Z sample (n = 800, ages 18-29) the same questions about inflation, prices they are paying for products, their personal finances and perceptions of business conditions.

The national survey of Generation Z finds more than half (53%) say inflation concerns have affected major spending decisions in the last year, while a smaller proportion (42%) of a national all-adult sample say inflation concerns have affected their spending in similar ways.

When asked about their impressions of the prices they are paying now for some products compared to last year, the all-adults respondents had similar but not entirely identical responses to the Generation Z survey respondents. Forty-six percent of each group say they are paying much higher prices for meat than a year ago. More than two in five (half of Gen Z – 50% and 44% of all adults) say they are paying much higher prices for gas for their cars. Similar percentages of respondents (42% of all adults, 41% of Gen Z) say they are paying much higher prices for eggs this year than a year ago.

The slightly different perceptions of gas prices may have been related to somewhat more of Gen Z (27% compared to 19% for the all-adults sample) saying they were more likely to buy an electric car because of those prices.

Less than 40% of Gen Z respondents say they are paying much higher prices for fruits and vegetables (38%), electronics (37%), milk (36%), electricity for their houses (35%), clothing (34%), natural gas for their houses (31%), bread (30%) and water (27%). Less than 40% of the all-adults survey respondents are paying much higher prices for fruits and vegetables (38%), electricity of their houses (36%), milk (36%), bread (34%), electronics (31%), clothing (30%), natural gas for their houses (29%) and water (28%).

Comparing responses across all-adult and Generation Z surveys, there was not much of a gap between the 45% of Gen Z respondents who said inflation in the past few months had been worse than expected and the 41% of all-adult survey respondents who said inflation had been worse than expected. About a third (35%) of the all-adults respondents said inflation had not been as bad as expected, and 27% of Gen Z respondents agreed.

“HPU’s poll supports recent studies that suggest Generation Z are more sensitive to changes in the economy,” said Dr. Dave Tofanelli, associate dean of HPU’s Earl N. Phillips School of Business. “Children of the digital age, Generation Z has honed the skill of sifting through vast amounts of data, which along with their awareness of inflationary changes has impacted their buying decisions.”

Consumer Sentiment Similar for All-Adult and Gen Z Samples

According to this latest poll, the Consumer Sentiment Index shows that all-adult respondents and Generation Z opinions are pretty much the same with the all-adult sample recording a 73.9 on the consumer sentiment index and the Generation Z sample recording a 73.3.

The HPU Poll’s measure of consumer sentiment is an index that comprises five separate questions asking respondents about different aspects of how they view the U.S. economy and their own personal finances.

All-Adult and Generation Z U.S Residents – Prices Compared to Last Year (May 2024)

All-Adult and Generation Z U.S Residents – Inflation and Spending Decisions (May 2024)

How much have concerns about inflation affected major spending decisions you have made in the last year?

All-Adult and Generation Z U.S Residents – Inflation Expectations (May 2024)

 Generally speaking, has the inflation we have seen over the past few months been worse than you expected, not as bad as you expected, or about what you expected?

All-Adult and Generation Z U.S Residents – Gas Prices and EVs (May 2024)

Do the gas prices we are seeing these days make it more or less likely you will buy an electric car?

All-Adult and Generation Z U.S Residents – Consumer Sentiment Index (May 2024)

 Note: The following indexes, questions and formula for calculating the consumer sentiment index are drawn from the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers (http://www.sca.isr.umich.edu/)

Consumer Sentiment Index calculated for

All-Adult respondents (n = 1000) = 73.9

Gen Z respondents (n = 800) = 73.3

We are interested in how people are getting along financially these days. Would you say that you (and your family living there) are better off or worse off financially than you were a year ago?

Now looking ahead, do you think that a year from now you (and your family living there) will be better off financially, or worse off, or just about the same as now?

Now turning to business conditions in the country as a whole, do you think that during the next 12 months we’ll have good times financially, or bad times, or what?

Looking ahead, which would you say is more likely, that in the country as a whole we’ll have continuous good times during the next five years or so, or that we have periods of widespread unemployment or depression, or what?

About the big things people buy for their homes, such as furniture, a refrigerator, stove, television, and things like that. Generally speaking, do you think now is a good time or bad time for people to buy major household items?

HPU Poll 104 comprised two online surveys fielded by the High Point University Survey Research Center on May 22 through May 29, 2024, using panels of respondents recruited and maintained by Dynata. Dynata sent invitations to its panels of U.S. adult respondents and Generation Z respondents and the SRC collected 1,000 total adult responses (18 years of age and older) and a separate sample of 800 Generation Z responses (ages 18 – 29) on its Qualtrics platform. The SRC did all data analysis. The online samples are from panels of respondents, and their participation does not adhere to usual assumptions associated with random selection. Therefore, it is not appropriate to assign classic margins of sampling error for the results. In this case, the SRC provides credibility intervals of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points for the all-adult sample