Gen Z Hides Food Delivery Spending as 50% Feel Embarrassed by the Habit
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Oct 15
Gen Z Hides Food Delivery Spending as 50% Feel Embarrassed by the Habit
2 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Oct 15
Summary
Half of Gen Z respondents in a FinanceBuzz survey said they feel embarrassed by how much they spend on food delivery, with some lying to friends and family about the total.
Five orders a month on average make Gen Z the heaviest users among age groups—about double Boomers—while one Purdue study found two-thirds of consumers used a food-ordering app at least once in 2024.
Delivery apps function as an “affordable luxury,” Carnegie Mellon’s Joy Lu said, but fees and surge pricing can create sticker shock and make users reluctant to admit how much goes to platforms.
Regulators are scrutinizing the business: the FTC is reportedly weighing rules on undisclosed dynamic-pricing fees, and New York City last month announced a $131.5 million DoorDash settlement over worker-pay violations.
The guilt lands amid broader cost-of-living pressure, even as 2024 BLS data cited by economist Mike Konczal showed Americans still devote more of their food budgets to groceries than to eating out and delivery.