Millennial Parenting and Generation Z Social Adjustment: A Comparative Study of Urban and Rural Contexts in Pakistan

Abstract

Generation Z (born ~mid-1990s–early 2010s) is the first generation of digital natives in Pakistan, with millennial parents. The study investigates Pakistani Gen Z students’ views about Millennial parenting and its social implications. The study nascent understanding of intergenerational dynamics in Pakistan by demonstrating the influence of Millennial parenting on Gen Z’s social adjustment. The Gen Z students’ meaning-making of Millennial parents’ styles and the ways that such styles become encapsulated within measurable outcomes. The study administered a mixed-methods survey (N≈520, ages 15–24). The survey includes Likert-scale measures of parental warmth, autonomy support, communication, academic pressure, social competencies, and identity, with open-ended questions about parental influence. The approach is based on both the constructivist (students' subjective perceptions of reality) and realist (consistent behavior) orientations. Results (descriptive frequencies and means) shows that students (Urban) are comparatively have high emotionally support and better academic encouragements. Qualitative themes shows parental care while reporting overprotection and academic pressure. Theoretically, it shows ‘authoritative’ / caring (warmth with control) statistically correlate for better/worse with self-reported social confidence. Urban Gen Z frequently cited more equitable, tech-savvy parenting, while rural students mentioned greater traditional authority. Parents’ focus on obedience and academic achievement forms identity and societal norms. Theoretically it is established in constructivist–realist dialectics.