Gen Z teens not only wait to get their driver’s license, they wait to take part in every other activity associated with independence and adulthood. As high school seniors (17 or 18 years old), they are less likely to drink alcohol, date, and work for pay than previous generations of teens (see Figure 6.16). They are also less likely to have sex: When Gen X’ers were teens in 1991, 67% had had sex by 12th grade; by 2021, only 47% had.
