Why where you live matters in understanding generations in India

Q&A with Ashwini Sirsikar

26 April 2023

Do Gen Z differ in India compared to other nations?

Indian Gen Z are not necessarily activists, far from the stereotypes prevailing in the US and Europe. Indeed, some only pay lip service to concerns about climate change or sustainability.

In contrast to Italian or American youth, for example, they abstained massively from voting at the last general election and are generally uninterested in politics.

To what extent do we see similarities between generations?

Ipsos | Generations | India We do see several similarities across generations primarily due to the cultural fabric which ties Indians. India continues to be a collectivist society with family being of utmost important. While on one hand Gen Z wants to do something different, follow their passions and seek newer challenges we also see a certain degree of conformism amongst them especially in smaller towns. Government jobs are still aspirational, primarily because of the status and respectability that they offer. And hence, conformity is not something that people look down upon. Many Gen Z continue to stay with their parents even once they start working. Some continue to stay together even post marriage and move out only if there is a space constraint or they need to move cities for work. Arranged marriages are still common in India and parental approval is critical. Many end up marrying a partner of their parent’s choice or settling for quasi love-arranged marriages where the girl and boy are allowed to meet each other a few times before they marry.

As a result of increased tech use, young people in India are actually demanding – they’re demanding more opportunities, they’re demanding change and they’re demanding guidance from marketers who can enter and speak to them.

To what extent do we see differences between generations?

The India that Gen Z live in is very different from the ones that our parents lived in. Tech literacy is something which binds and defines young people. India is a mobile first market. Many local apps have been developed to address this market: Flipkart, Meesho, Zomato and Moji (TikTok being banned from India). Young people in small-town India (Bharat in Hindi) assert their identity and self-pride through social media. Large tech players, seeing that growth has plateaued in the bigger towns, are now focusing a lot more on tier two and the rural population. Ostentatious consumption (luxury cars for example) reflects the new self-confidence of tier two cities now described as “billionaire mills”.

As a result of increased tech use, young people in India are actually demanding – they’re demanding more opportunities, they’re demanding change and they’re demanding guidance from marketers who can enter and speak to them.

Gen X or people like me are in many cases parents to Gen Z. From an India perspective this was a generation which was in a bit of transition. They were brought up with typical middle-class values of frugality, high focus on education, family centricity. However, liberalisation and globalisation in India which happened in 1991 opened up a width of possibilities in terms of more choices when it came to career, education, access to brands etc. This generation is also to a certain extent the most adaptable as they have seen both worlds- the world of their parents and the new world that liberalisation brought in. In many cases they are the parents to Gen Z and have had to adapt to the new way of thinking that the Gen Z bring in. We see this generation straddling so called diverse values frugality vs spend freely, tradition vs modernity, attitude to change, gender role definitions etc.

Has there been a change for women in Indian society?

Ipsos | Generations | India The condition of young Indian women is still heavily determined by early marriage and childbirth: the median age at first marriage is 18.8 years for women and 24.9 years for men aged between 25-49. But in any case, dramatic changes are underway as reflected by the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) data: early marriage has been declining over time.

Women having 12 or more years of schooling marry much later than other women. The median age at first marriage for women aged 25-49 increases from 17.1 years for women with no schooling to 22.8 years for women with 12 or more years of schooling. Women in the highest wealth quintile marry much later (21.1 years) than women in other wealth quintiles (17.5-19.3 years). This has a direct impact on the Labour Force Participation rates which are 60.1% for men aged 15-29 vs. only 21.1% for women in the same age bracket.

Yet, for the first time, girls’ Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in Higher Secondary level of School Education is now higher than boys’ (54.6% vs. 53%) and women’s Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in Higher Education (18-23 years) is also higher than men’s (27.3% vs. 26.9%).

The higher rates of education for women means they are asserting themselves more. Further there is significant push from the government as well as corporates to improve female participation in business and sports.

The definition of self-identity is not the same when it comes to small town or large town India. In small towns, it could be something as simple as having the freedom to stay out late at night or freedom to decide what kind of clothes they are going to wear. In large cities, it could be freedom when it comes to career choices, it could be freedom in terms of being able to decide when they want to marry and who they want to marry.

The pandemic exacerbated this polarisation [of the labor market] and produced a deterioration of the average quality of jobs, most lost jobs being salaried positions. This resulted in a surge in youth unemployment and in December 2021, fewer Millennials and Gen Z were employed than in December 2019.

How has the pandemic affected different generations?

Ipsos | Generations | India The share of upper secondary 15-19-year-old students enrolled in vocational programmes is one of the lowest among OECD and partner countries with available data (1.5%, rank 40/41, 2020). This means that the Indian labour market will continue being extremely polarised. The pandemic exacerbated this polarisation and produced a deterioration of the average quality of jobs, most lost jobs being salaried positions. This resulted in a surge in youth unemployment and in December 2021, fewer Millennials and Gen Z were employed than in December 2019. Gen Z was also emotionally impacted by the pandemic, being stuck at home, with career choices and as a result aspirations curtailed. Social media and the internet in those times provided avenues for entertainment, learning, growth and also income.

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