Whose happiness is more important to you: your pet’s or your partner’s?
If you’re a member of Gen Z, you’re more likely to say your pet’s happiness is paramount, according to a recent Zillow survey.
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The survey, conducted online by The Harris Poll, found that 60% of Gen Z adults (ages 18-26) think pet-friendly features are essential for the home they buy and a majority of Gen Z pet owners say it’s more important to have a pet-friendly home (55%) than a kid-friendly home (45%) if they had to choose.
Nearly half (48%) think a fenced backyard is a must-have, but they aren’t so concerned about having a double sink in the bathroom (28%), a home office for their partner (35%), a playroom for kids (24%) or an outdoor play set (11%).
“Young adults may be delaying parenthood, but they’re not putting off pet parenthood,” said Zillow’s home trends expert Amanda Pendleton. “One recent study finds most Gen Z adults would rather have a pet than a child.”
Let’s see: they go to the bathroom less often, you can leave them home alone when you go to work, and they love you unconditionally when you come home (unless you have a cat, of course) -- yep, definitely pets over kids.
Seriously, though, pets have long been considered part of the American family, but even more people became pet parents during the pandemic.
Zillow’s Consumer Housing Trends Report found that nearly three-quarters of home buyers have at least one pet at home (73%).
And more than 1 in 5 Gen Z pet owners (22%) would want to move out of their current home if it was no longer working for their pet. But only 12% would want to move if their home was no longer working for their partner.
“As this younger generation ages into their home-buying years, it follows that their pets will have a greater influence on their moving decisions, perhaps more so than their significant other,” Pendleton said.
And one of our favorite facts: Americans love their pets so much that 13% of pet owners who live with a significant other would rather share their primary bedroom with their pet than with their partner. (We think it comes down to who snores more.)
Survey Methodology
This survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of Zillow March 16–20, 2023; 2,066 U.S. adults ages 18 and older were surveyed, of whom 306 are Gen Z adults ages 18–26. The sampling precision of Harris online polls is measured by using a Bayesian credible interval. For this study, the sample data is accurate to within +/- 2.8 percentage points using a 95% confidence level.