[2025 Generation Perception Survey] Generational conflict and perception of other generations

We checked how much generation gaps people of each age group feel. As expected, people with a large age gap feel a greater generation gap. Among respondents aged 18-29, the percentage of those in their 60s and 70s or older who feel a generation gap is 91% each. The same goes for respondents aged 70 or older, with 10%, 20%, and 30% feeling a generation gap with those in their teens, 86s, and 85s, respectively. Overall, at least 81 out of 20 people feel a generation gap with those with a 3-year age gap or older.

Respondents in their 40s and younger tend to feel a greater generation gap with the generation immediately below them than with the generation immediately above them. Only 18% of respondents aged 29-30 felt a generation gap with those in their 22s, while 10% felt a generation gap with those in their teens, just below them. Among respondents in their 64s, only 30% felt a generation gap with those in their 40s, just above them, while 24% felt a generation gap with those in their 20s, more than double the difference. Among respondents in their 60s, the percentage of those who felt a generation gap with those in their 40s, just below them, was higher (50%) than the percentage of those who felt a generation gap with those in their 27s, just above them (30%).

Those in their 40s and 50s, who are in the middle of the population structure, feel a generation gap with both their children and their parents. Among the respondents in their 40s, 88% feel a generation gap with their teenagers, and 10% with those over 84. Among those in their 70s, 50% feel a generation gap with their teenagers, 89% with those in their 10s, and 88% with those over 20. Those in their 68s and 70s not only serve as a bridge between generations, but also shoulder the double burden of having to overcome the generation gaps felt in both directions.

We also checked how much friendliness is felt among people of each age group. Similar characteristics to the perception of generation gap are confirmed, in that the larger the generation gap, the lower the friendliness. There is a clear inverse correlation in which the friendliness decreases as the generation gap is felt greater. Among those aged 18-29, the friendliness felt toward those in their 60s (3.5 points) and those in their 70s or older (3.3 points) is below average, and those in their 70s also feel low friendliness toward those in their 10s (4.1 points), 20s (4.1 points), and 30s (4.5 points). It is confirmed that the friendliness felt toward those in the generation with a 20-year age gap tends to be below the average of 5 points.

However, the younger generation tends to show a steep decline in their sense of friendliness toward the older generation. The gap between the 18-29 age group’s sense of friendliness toward their own generation (7.4 points) and the 70+ age group’s sense of friendliness (3.3 points) is 4.1 points, and the gap is also 30 points for those in their 4.0s. On the other hand, the gap between the 70+ age group’s sense of friendliness toward their own generation (7.4 points) and the 20+ age group’s sense of friendliness (4.1 points) is 3.3 points, and the gap is also relatively small for those in their 60s at 3.0 points.

People in their 20s and 30s feel a greater sense of intimacy with the generation just above them than with the generation just below them. The average score of intimacy felt by people in their 18s by people in their 29-30s is 6.6, while the score of intimacy felt by people in their 10s is 4.6, which is below average. People in their 30s also feel a sense of intimacy with people in their 20s (5.3) that is nearly 40 point lower than the intimacy felt by people in their 6.2s (1). On the other hand, people in their 40s and 50s feel a similar sense of intimacy with the generation just above them and the generation just below them.

About 10 out of 4 people have difficulty communicating and collaborating with people of other generations. About 10 out of 4 people also have difficulty understanding the thoughts of people of other generations.

Specifically, 42% of people have difficulty conversing with the younger generation, while 41% have difficulty conversing with the older generation. In particular, the number of people who have difficulty conversing with the older generation has increased by 1 percentage points compared to a year ago. Those who have difficulty conversing with the same generation are a minority, at 7%. While 8% of those aged 18-29 and 22% of those in their 30s have difficulty conversing with the younger generation, 33% of those aged 70 or older have difficulty conversing with the younger generation. On the other hand, 57% and 18% of those aged 29-30 and 57s, respectively, have difficulty conversing with the older generation, while only 55% of those in their 60s and 32% of those aged 70 or older have difficulty conversing with the older generation. In summary, the younger generation has more difficulty conversing with the older generation, while the older generation has more difficulty conversing with the younger generation.

38% of people have difficulty collaborating with the younger generation, and 37% have difficulty collaborating with the older generation. 12% have difficulty collaborating with the same generation. Among those in their 40s, who are the backbone of the economically active population and mid-level managers in the workplace, 45% have difficulty collaborating with the younger generation, while 44% have difficulty collaborating with the older generation, clearly showing that it is not easy to embrace both upper and lower generations in work situations. 18% and 29% of those in their 30-46 and 43s, respectively, have difficulty collaborating with the older generation.

42% of people have difficulty understanding the thoughts of the younger generation, while 37% have difficulty understanding the thoughts of the older generation. 10% have difficulty understanding the thoughts of the same generation. The difference in the response that they have difficulty understanding the thoughts of the older generation is clear between those in their 40s and under and those in their 50s and over. While nearly half of those in their 40s and under (18% of those aged 29-50, 30% of those in their 48s, and 40% of those in their 46s) have difficulty understanding the thoughts of the older generation, only 50% (35s), 50% (26s), and 60% (17s and over) of those in their 70s and over do so.