Is society becoming more generous, less generous or staying about the same?

Research in A New Era of Giving—our latest release in The State of Generosityseries—explores generations’ perceptions of generosity and offers a glimpse at emerging giving trends among Millennials and Gen Z.

Roughly 3 in 10 Gen Z & Millennials Feel Young Adults Are More Generous than Their Elders The plurality of U.S. adults across the generations thinks collective societal generosity is remaining consistent. Only a minority of adults, no matter which age cohort they belong to, believe society is becoming more generous. This sentiment may stem from tempered expectations about how the baton of generosity is being taken up by young people.

Boomers are the biggest cynics, with more than half (53%) saying younger generations are less generous than older generations. Elders and Gen X, though slightly less pessimistic, also lean toward a negative view of young adults’ generosity. The greatest optimism appears among young adults themselves; more than one in three Gen Z (35%) and 29 percent of Millennials feel young adults are more generous than their elders.

This reveals a (perhaps unsurprising) generational split on views of generational generosity: Young Millennial and Gen Z adults are hopeful their peers will at least maintain the same levels of generosity. Older adults in Gen X, Boomer and Elder generations are skeptical that emerging adults will live up to their standards. In other words, everyone thinks more highly of the generosity of their own age cohort.

Of course, it will be some time before the trendline becomes clear, and this debate depends on how one defines or values generous expressions in the first place. However, Barna’s The State of Generosity project does offer some impressions of how young adults are already making an impact as donors and volunteers.

Stage of Life & Volunteerism Impact Young Adults’ Giving Tendencies The truth is that Gen Z does lag behind other generations when it comes to financial donations. They are less likely than older adults to report annual charitable giving. Still, half of Gen Z (51%) say they have given financially to charitable organizations, including churches. And Millennials (61%), just ahead of Gen Z, are already on par with Gen X (58%) and Boomers (64%) in charitable giving.

It’s important to keep in mind the many natural reasons that Gen Z young adults are in a stage of life where it may be (or seem to be) difficult to donate. Typically, they are still pursuing higher education, are in early stages of their professional life or may not yet be financially independent. Certainly, they haven’t amassed the resources, experiences and disciplines that allow 72 percent of Elders to report having made charitable donations within the year.

A sense of regularity, like an ongoing pledge or even an automatic withdrawal, may be helpful here. So far, one in three Gen Z (30%) and Millennials (33%) report having set up their support of a nonprofit organization in this routine way, falling just behind Elders.

For now, young adults are keen on finding hands-on ways to practice generosity. Encouragingly, Gen Z and Millennials are the generations most likely to report having volunteered their time to an organization in the past three months. In fact, more than half of adults in Gen Z (54%) say they have expressed generosity in this way, far exceeding all their elders.

In the meantime, young adults seem to be growing in financial consciousness. Among the generations, Gen Z adults are the most likely to say they have planned or evaluated their finances in the past three months. As they nurture this awareness and discipline, perhaps they may recognize and prioritize ways to grow as donors.