Generation Z admits to faking their finances to impress partners, risking debt in the process

Why does your friend appear on Instagram with a sports car or designer handbag? Do they actually make a lot more money than you do?

In all likelihood, probably not. A significant portion of Gen Z participants in Credit One Bank’s survey, “Credit Status: How Millennials and Gen Z View Credit Scores,” admitted that they are willing to fake their finances in order to score dates and increase their social credibility.

Manipulating their money

The good news is that nearly half (49.4%) of Gen Z are honest about their finances, saying they never exaggerate their income, finances, or job titles in order to appear more financially savvy than they really are.

Of the remaining 50.6% of participants, 16.9% said they hit only once or twice.

This leaves more than a third (33.7%) of respondents reviewing their non-existent finances on a regular basis.

Additionally, 59% reported that they overspent in order to appear more financially successful in dating, social media, or social situations. 39.40% admit that they do this regularly.

But why do Generation Z feel the need to exaggerate what’s in their bank accounts? Most of the time, it’s about dating.

Gen Z’s toxic dating habit can’t be broken

According to the survey, 16.58% of Gen Z admit to taking on debt or hurting their credit score in order to buy a lavish gift for a significant other, which is the most common reason respondents went into debt for gifts. (Only 6.69% went into debt to get a gift for a friend).

Meanwhile, 37.2% said they would be willing to overdraft their accounts or go into debt in order to get an appointment or something else important. However, more than half of this population draws the line at $100 in debt.

Whether that ends up being reflected in their credit card bill or not is another story. While we can’t know how much debt is ultimately attributable to financial flex, Gen Z is incurring higher levels of credit card debt than Millennials their age, with the average amount of credit card debt for consumers ages 22 to 24 rising from $2,248 in 2013 to $2,834 today.

Shallow or unsafe? What’s driving Gen Z’s financial scams?

Are these Generation Z people shallow? Survey data suggest otherwise. Only 17.88% of participants said they would end their relationship because of bad financial habits, and 24.30% said they wouldn’t care about credit score when it comes to dating. Nearly half (47.9%) said they had either already married or in theory would marry someone with a poor credit score and financial history.

Bottom line

Although many Gen Zers do not lie about their finances, a third admit to stretching the truth to appear wealthy, with 37.2% willing to go into debt to project that image.

Many members of Generation Z claim that they don’t care about their romantic partners’ financial histories, but some of them appear to be insecure about their finances, and go to great lengths to project wealth even when they don’t have any.