Gen Z Life Skills Gap Leaves Parents Worried as Teens Head to University

As thousands of teenagers haul their bags off to university this month, a new survey has revealed the awkward truth: when it comes to Gen Z life skills, a good chunk of today’s students are baffled by the basics.

The poll, commissioned by eco tech brand Hive, found that almost half of parents say their child has never attempted simple household jobs.

Putting up a shelf tops the list at 42%, closely followed by cleaning a toilet (just under four in ten) and ironing clothes (a third).

The everyday jobs still out of reach

It doesn’t get much better with other domestic duties. Roughly one in three say their teen can’t operate a washing machine, while another third admit their child wouldn’t know how to cook a spaghetti bolognese. Budgeting is no safer ground either — three in ten have never created a plan for their money and managed to stick to it.

Other stand-out gaps included:

• A quarter wouldn’t know how to pay a bill.
• Nearly one in four couldn’t book a GP appointment.
• About 1 in 5 can’t even turn on the heating.
• The same proportion can’t boil an egg.
• One in five don’t make their own bed.
• Close to one in five have never changed a duvet cover.
• Nineteen percent admit their teen struggles to strike up small talk.

With numbers like these, it’s little wonder 41% of parents think their kids will get a “rude awakening” once they move out. Over half — 55% — put it more bluntly: their children are “wonderful, but a bit useless.”

Too much scrolling, not enough scrubbing

Almost a quarter of parents admit their child is flat-out unprepared for life outside the home. The culprits? Nearly half blame endless phone scrolling, 45% say their kids haven’t faced real-world problems, 44% point to a lack of practical skills, and just over a third confess they’ve simply done everything for them.

On average, teens ask their parents how to do things eight times each month. Still, nearly half of mums and dads (49%) believe that the reality check of living alone will do them good, even if six in ten privately worry about how they’ll cope.

Masters of tech, novices of life

While Gen Z may falter with frying pans and irons, they’re untouchable in the tech department. A huge 88% of parents admit they regularly rely on their children for gadget help.

Fixing the Wi-Fi (over a third), setting up smart speakers (more than a quarter), downloading apps (around one in five), and even explaining the TV remote all fall into their remit. One in five parents say they’ll probably still be phoning their kids every few weeks for tech support after they’ve flown the nest.

Susan Wells, Director of EV & Solar at Hive, put it bluntly: “Gen Z might not have mastered ironing or cooking yet, but when it comes to tech, they’re light years ahead.

Parents may still call on their kids for help with smart devices, but most are pretty confident using technology themselves — and with eco tech like smart heating becoming part of everyday life, it’s clear the whole family is learning new tricks together.”

Eco tech: the new normal

Seven in ten parents now see eco tech such as smart heating or app-based controls as essential to modern living. And 42% admit they’ve picked up something genuinely useful from smart devices in the past year.

Hive’s technology reflects this shift, allowing families to control everything from heating and lighting to EV charging and solar from a single app.

Designed to save energy, money and, perhaps unintentionally, help close the gap in Gen Z life skills, it may just keep both generations learning from each other.