The least criminal generation ever

Members of Generation Z, now coming through their most crime-prone years, are the least criminal generation on record. And not by just a little.

Among 15-to-19-year-olds, Gen Z’s burglary rate is less than a third that of the Millennials at the same age. Boomers and Gen X had even higher burglary rates. The numbers for larceny and theft fit the same pattern. Robbery shows slightly less dramatic differences, but the youngest generation still commits fewer than half as many robberies as any older cohort.

Only in the murder rate does Gen Z comes close, but here too it is the least offending generation in living memory.

Why? Possible reasons include hyper-attentive helicopter parenting and improving security systems. But the major correlation is with the rise of the smartphone and the decline in socializing among teens. Crime, especially among the young, is often a social activity. Lack of social lives is not making teens happier, but it does seem to keep them out of trouble.

Source: James Tuttle in The Crime Forecast