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Diplomas Meet AI, Pushing Off Retirement, We Need Childcare Cures, and CPAs Say Spending is Slowing.
The latest trends in society and culture from The Harris Poll
Good afternoon from New York.
One Interesting stat: Hunkering In
More workers are gathering office perks like acorns. In a new Justworks-Harris Poll, more American workers are concerned about reductions in workplace benefits and perks (+7 points) than being laid off (+4 pts) from last year. At the same time, working longer hours is now less of a concern (-4%-pts).
We have four new stories this week:
- Gen Z graduates are questioning the value of their degree in the age of AI.
- Americans now believe their “magic number” for retirement won’t be enough.
- Childcare isn’t solely a personal problem, but a larger economic crisis.
- Are you squirreling away funds or spending like there’s no tomorrow?
Has AI Made Gen Z Degrees Irrelevant? Indeed-Harris Poll
It’s cap and gown season, but new job seekers are staring down AI and asking if college alone was worth it in our poll with Indeed in CIO Dive.
- Almost half (45%) of Gen Z job seekers say the adoption of AI has made their college education irrelevant (vs. all respondents: 30%).
- Even more (51%) view their degrees as a waste of money, compared to Millennials (41%) and Boomers+ (20%).
- And two-thirds (68%) believe they could do their job without a degree, compared to Boomers (50%).
- FOBO is global: (60%) of employees worldwide are anxious about their professional relevance due to the accelerating pace of technological change (ETS-Harris Poll, 2025).
Takeaway: For decades, getting a degree meant substantially higher wages. Between about 1980 and 2010, the gap in earnings between college graduates and those with only a high school diploma grew significantly. But recently, this advantage has hit a wall. Economists note that the “college wage premium” has plateaued, which explains why younger generations are increasingly questioning whether college is worth it. In its place are skills, credentials, and lifetime learning.
The Magic Retirement Number Still Isn’t Enough: Northwestern Mutual-Harris Poll
A new Northwestern Mutual-Harris Poll, published in Investment News, finds that Americans plan to save less for retirement, even though this will not be enough for many.
- Americans’ “magic number” for retiring comfortably is $1.26 million, $ 200,000 less than the $1.46 million reported last year and nearly flat compared to the 2022 and 2023 estimates.
- However, among Americans with any retirement savings, one in four (25%) say they have just one year or less of their current annual income put aside for it.
- Many know they don’t have enough: (51%) of Americans think it’s likely they’ll outlive their savings, with (35%) reporting they haven’t taken any steps to address this potential outcome.
Takeaway: “Americans’ ‘magic number’ to retire comfortably has come down – but it remains high, far beyond what many people have saved,” said John Roberts, chief field officer at Northwestern Mutual. “The level of concern about their current savings has ratcheted up. More than half of Americans believe outliving their life savings is a real possibility, and the vast majority are living with financial anxiety.”
Struggling Parents, Struggling Economy
In their latest installment of The Next Big Think!, Harris CSO Libby Rodney and MD Abbey Lunney detail how childcare is an economic crisis masquerading as a personal problem.
- Over half (53%) of working parents fear career setbacks due to parenting responsibilities.
- Nearly half (49%) felt forced to return to the office and are worried they’ll have to step back from their careers to take on parenting responsibilities (53%).
- Who’s to blame? (71%) believe the gender pay gap directly results from America’s lack of childcare support.
- However, we found that (78%) of HR leaders report difficulty convincing the C-suite of the long-term ROI for childcare benefits.
- Grannies can’t save us entirely: In 2023, we found that (67%) of working parents relying on grandmothers for childcare would have lost their jobs without grannies’ help.
Takeaway: “RTO parents are now performing two full-time jobs simultaneously – their paid work and their unpaid childcare coordination in a system that is not fully operational, in a country that provides less support than virtually any other developed nation,” writes Rodney. “As highlighted by KPMG, the post-pandemic childcare landscape remains fundamentally broken. Companies that ignore this reality should expect widening gender gaps and missed growth opportunities that come with supporting families.”
Smart Money Moves: American Institute of CPAs-Harris Poll
According to our work with the American Institute of CPAs, many are halting their spending due to financial worries.
- Over a third of Americans have either felt cautious (37%) or uncertain (36%) about their financial situation in the past twelve months.
- Keeping your card in your wallet: Leaving (28%) to report that they have been charging less on their credit cards.
- As for those who put off a significant purchase in the last year, over half (57%) cited the costs of goods and services as the reason for the delay.
- Shifting to saving: (27%) have started saving or increased their savings rate in the past year.
Takeaway: “Money is one of the biggest stressors in many Americans’ lives, at times causing anxiety and tension with a spouse, partner, or other family members,” says Dan Snyder, CPA/PFS, director of Personal Financial Planning for the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA).“Taking control of your financial situation and finding comfort with what you can and can’t control is a good starting point to help alleviate financial uncertainty.”
