If strictly taking the birth range of 1997-2012, there's already a couple noteworthy circumstances during this period - 9/11 and all that came of it, and the absolute catastrophe of The Great Recession. Whether direct or indirect, I'm certain that Millennial relatives having to deal with that downturn had an impact on their progeny in some way or another. Although it obviously isn't anywhere near the level of damage such as the likes of the Great Depression, the American Civil War, the Spanish Flu, and so forth, it would be foolish to state that Zoomers will have it easy objectively because they have it easier relative to the past; housing's going up, cars and the insurance often necessary for them are going up, and there's a lot more that can be criticized regarding where things are at economically. Things could always be worse, but it doesn't change how much better things could be otherwise.
Looking at the social angle, there's definitely a difference in the upbringing of most Zoomers versus the upbringing of their predecessors, considering how rapidly the Internet has advanced. The continued deterioration of the boundary between online and real life, pushed further by measures that try to tie everything together with your real name or even location; the instant feedback granted with every click, scroll, or query submitted; the diminished drive or incentive within the generation to seek out spots in the real world to socialize and interact with others, exacerbated further after the lockdowns of 2020. Not an exhaustive list, but from this alone you have a recipe for a plethora of issues.
I would say that the future of this generation is dependent on its capacity to understand these disadvantages and overcome them. To live in this world is not only a matter of fulfilling obligations for the sake of holding a place in society, in the exchange of food, shelter, and other needs - it is to find an honest to God reason to keep living, a spark in the soul that drives you to draw it forth and realize it in its entirety. Of ambition, of works, of family, of whatever it is that pushes you forward through each day, regardless of adversity.
But that's just the trouble. A substantial amount of Zoomers go through education, get pressured into a 4 year of any kind, and wonder what the hell they're still doing alive, the same plight which ailed Millennials across the nation. There is less emphasis placed on attempting to bring out that purpose of living and more emphasis placed on standardization, forcing students to be optimal in a certain way and evaluating their worth through data and comparisons. Parents who were cycled through an earlier iteration of the system are left to try and live vicariously through their children instead, or otherwise take on a hands-off mindset which enables their aimlessness at best, and churns out full on NEETs at worst.
What is a man to do, should he wake up in a labyrinth, and only the blind are there to guide him? I know not how true this holds for the whole of the generation, and it would be awfully bleak to assume this to stand true for the majority. But I get the impression that perhaps this is the reality for more than a minority.
If there is any future I am truly pessimistic toward, however, it is undoubtedly Generation Alpha. God knows what'll become of all those children left with an iPad to parent them.
