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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Kate McCusker

They say we don’t like sex, drugs, democracy or DIY. But here’s how we in gen Z really feel

More young people believed in the institution of marriage in 2024 than they did in 2004.
Surprisingly, more young people believed in the institution of marriage in 2024 than they did in 2004. Photograph: Peter Dazeley/Getty Images

One of the most ignominious accusations that has recently been levelled against gen Z – people born between 1997 and 2012 – is that we cannot do DIY.

Nearly a quarter of us can’t change a lightbulb, a fair chunk can’t identify a flathead screwdriver, and a fifth don’t even know what a spanner is, according to research by DIY enthusiasts’ favourite Halfords, which surveyed 2,000 people, 323 of which were aged between 18 and 27. (I should get out of the way early that I was born in 1997 and no, I don’t know my flathead screwdrivers from whatever the other ones are called.)

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