Gen Z are trading marriage, homes and babies for cats and dogs

Since Covid (and continuing after Covid) Gen Z - those born between 1997-2012 - have traded all the usual milestones such as getting married, buying a home and having kids for a much simpler goal which is having a cat or dog or even two of them.

Image: MikeB

The trend started during Covid because they were allowed to work from home and it continues because a lot of them are still allowed to work from home although there is a backlash building from employers who often don't like it. Elon Musk says that it is a bad idea for productivity and creativity.

But the cost of living in the UK and perhaps elsewhere has encouraged Gen Z young people to downsize their traditional objectives.

A lot of people in Britain can no longer afford to buy a home because of the high cost of the deposit. It takes years to save the money or your parents step in if you are lucky. So, there are many more people renting.

Rental prices have gone up as a result. Covid started off the trend for adopting pets because of lockdowns. People had no work as they were on furlough and many, I presume, became a bit lonely and they had the time on their hands to look after a dog or cat.

The problem is that it was a temporary situation. There's not much planning going on here. If these people are forced to return to the office they can no longer look after their companion animal properly. There will be many distressed cats and dogs too. There are already reports of dogs being poorly socialised because of poor breeding and poor caregiving.

In addition, they often adopted companion animals without proper preparation in terms of learning about what is needed and in respect of dog and cat behaviour. And of course, the budgetary requirements are very important. A lot of people are sure have found out that they can't really afford to look after a companion animal successfully.

There is a lot of instability in the pet marketplace in the UK. But Gen Z think that animals are relatively cheap compared with the unaffordable traditional milestones. I would not call caring for a cat or dog cheap. If you have a couple of pets to care for it is going to be quite expensive. There is probably some misplaced expectations here.

Pets at Home (pet products chain in the UK) said that Gen Z are adopting pets earlier than previous generations because they are perhaps delaying child-rearing, marriage and getting a flat. They are using all their energy and resources to look after "fur babies" especially in urban areas.

RELATED: Pope Francis says that cats go to heaven.

I can remember the current Pope saying that he was concerned for the reasons mentioned. Italy needs young couples to marry and have children in order to raise kids who can contribute to the economy. And the Pope doesn't like people channelling all their family emotions into pets. He wants people to love other people rather than cats. I think he is out of touch!