Research Shows Living & Working Overseas Is Losing Lustre for Gen Z Travellers

by Sharyn McCullum | Last updated Apr 8, 2026 | News

Female walking towards Big Ben on a UK Working Holiday.

Research Shows Living & Working Overseas Is Losing Its Lustre for Gen Z Travellers

Is this the end of the gap year or working holiday abroad? Once considered a rite of passage for young people, the traditional ‘gap year’ or ‘working abroad on a working holiday visa’ appears to be losing its appeal. New research shows living & working overseas is losing its lustre for Gen Z travellers.

As of 2026, Generation Z (Gen Z) refers to individuals born between roughly 1997 and 2012. This demographic is approximately 14 to 29 years old.

It seems Gen Z interest in gap year travel has been dropping and dropped by 20% from 2024 to 2025. It could partly be due to some of Gen Z being under the age for a working holiday visa, which is 18-30 years.

Never-the-less, there has been a decline in those 18+ heading overseas on a working holiday. Why? It seems the reality of cost-of-living pressures, job uncertainty and an increasingly unstable global political climate is fuelling this attitude shift.

As LiveWorkPlayTravel specialises in living and working abroad this is a little concerning. However, only time will tell if this trend continues.

Live & Work Abroad Inspiration

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My Essential Live and Work Abroad (and Play) Resources

🏠 Where Will You Be Sleeping Tonight? – Get a bed in a hostel dorm through HostelWorld or for a hotel room check out Booking.com. Get free accommodation house and pet sitting through Trusted Housesitters – this has saved me thousands on accommodation, no joke!

✈️ Need a cheap and flexible airfare – head to Skyscanner.

🚙 Car Rental – search and compare vehicles at DiscoverCars.

🚆 Train Travel: I love riding the rails. For a rail pass in Europe head to Raileurope. And Japan has a great one too – JapanRail Pass.

🚌 Travelling by bus is often the cheapest way to travel. Compare and get a ticket or a pass at Busbud.

🏃🏻‍♀️ Jump-the-queue entrance tickets and day tours: I book these through GetYourGuide.

🌏 How to pick a country to live and work abroad in? Check out my Working Holiday Visa Country Guides and Digital Nomad Visa Country Guides to see where you can live work play travel abroad.

👕 For travel clothing and gear I get a lot of stuff from Amazon, North Face and Anaconda.

🚑 Should you buy travel insurance? Absolutely Yes! SafetyWing is great digital nomads and long-term travellers and World Normads has policies for general and adventure travel.

Hi, I’m Sharyn. Travel addict. Lover of ’80s music. Chocolate, coffee and Mexican food connoisseur. Travel Writing Digital Nomad specialising in writing about how to live and work abroad (and play abroad too). Currently living, working and playing in Australia.