Nearly Half of Gen Z Workers Dip into Retirement Funds, Per Survey

Faced with financial insecurity, a sizable number of Generation Z workers are breaking into their retirement nest eggs. Nearly half—46%—of surveyed Gen Z workers said they had withdrawn money from their retirement savings accounts at some point, according to a preview of a report by software company Payroll Integrations and third-party research firm Dynata.

Asked why they had withdrawn retirement funds, 42% of Gen Z respondents said they used the money to pay down debt. Among other generations that had withdrawn retirement funds, debt repayment was cited by only 6% of Millennial respondents, 17% of Generation X respondents and none of the Baby Boomer respondents.

Overall, 38% of all respondents said they had withdrawn retirement funds, and the largest portion of that group (37%) did so due to unexpected emergencies. Only 31% of Millennial respondents reported taking money out of their accounts, compared with 41% of both Gen X and Baby Boomer respondents.

Among Gen X respondents, the most common reason for withdrawing retirement funds was emergency expenses (56%). Boomers’ most common reasons for withdrawals were emergency expenses (33%) and housing-related costs (33%). Millennials’ most common reasons were rising living costs (22%) and housing-related costs (22%).

One-third of all respondents said they planned to withdraw from their retirement accounts in the next 12 months. In that group, emergency expenses was the most common reason for Gen Z respondents (33%), Gen X respondents (33%) and Boomers (50%). The other most common reason for Gen Z was medical expenses (33%) while Millennials cited emergency expenses (24%) and rising living costs (24%).

Meanwhile, a recent PNC Bank report found that surveyed Gen Z respondents had the highest confidence level—56%—in reaching their retirement goals. By comparison, 50% of Boomers, 43% of Gen X and 50% of Millennials shared similar confidence.

PNC Bank also found a perception gap in retirement readiness between workers and their bosses. While 78% of surveyed employers felt their workers were at least somewhat prepared for retirement, only 45% of employees reported feeling prepared.

Retirement saving was a long-term financial goal for 58% of surveyed employees, down from 62% in 2024. Asked at which age they expected to retire, 47% of respondents said older than age 65, 34% said younger than age 65 and 16% did not think they could afford retirement.

Most surveyed workers—71%—said they had never discussed retirement preparedness with their employers.

When employers were asked how they encouraged workers to save for retirement, 57% said they were automatically enrolling new workers in retirement plans and 56% said they increased annual contributions to workers’ retirement plans. One-third said they were matching workers’ contributions based on eligible student loan repayments.

Payroll Integrations and the third-party research firm Dynata surveyed 250 full-time employees and human relations leaders in the third quarter of 2025. PNC Bank and the market research firm Willow Research conducted online surveys with 500 employers and 1,000 employees in early 2025.