Millennials are the generation most affected by stress and anxiety, according to employers surveyed in new research from GRiD, the industry body for the group risk sector.
The study, which polled 500 HR decision makers and 1,210 UK workers, found that employers believe stress and anxiety linked to home life (42%) and to finances and debt (43%) affect Millennials more than Baby Boomers, Gen X or Gen Z.
Employers showed slightly greater concern about work-related stress for Gen Z (42%) than for Millennials (41%), though the gap between the two younger generations was minimal compared with the difference for Baby Boomers (20%) and Gen X (27%). Taken together, home, financial and work-related stress and anxiety leave employers most concerned for Millennials overall.
Asked directly about their own stress levels, Gen Z workers were most likely to report being affected. This group cited higher stress and anxiety related to work (28%), finances and debt (19%) and home life (17%) than Baby Boomers, Gen X or Millennials, with one exception: Millennials reported home life stress on a par with Gen Z.
The gap between employer perception and employee experience was most pronounced among older workers. Just 7% of Baby Boomers and 14% of Gen X employees reported work-related stress themselves, compared with employer estimates of 20% and 27% respectively.
"While younger generations may report higher stress levels, pressure is not limited to one age group, as different cohorts face distinct challenges, such as Gen X and millennial women carrying a disproportionate share of caregiving responsibilities while working, and middle-aged men being less likely to speak up despite their well-documented need for mental health support," said Katharine Moxham, spokesperson for GRiD.
The findings arrive against a backdrop of record claims activity in the UK group risk market. GRiD's latest annual claims data showed insurers paid out £2.69 billion across group life, group income protection (GIP) and group critical illness in 2025, up £96.7 million on 2024. Mental illness was the second-largest cause of new GIP claims, accounting for 20% of cases behind cancer at 28%, and mental health support made up 48% of the nearly 8,300 health and wellbeing interventions insurers delivered during the year.
The findings also feed into a wider policy debate. The government-commissioned Keep Britain Working Review, led by Charlie Mayfield, found that one in five UK working-age adults is economically inactive, with poor health, including mental ill-health, cited as a leading driver. GRiD has argued that group risk products, and the early-intervention services embedded within them, are directly relevant to that agenda.
For insurers, advisers and employee benefits consultants, the generational mismatch identified by GRiD carries product design implications. Providers have broadened GIP and group critical illness propositions to include virtual GP access, structured mental health pathways and financial wellbeing tools, partly because employees do not always describe stress in the way employers assume. Misjudging which cohort needs which type of support risks under-used benefits, a concern given that GRiD data shows most in-force group risk policies cover fewer than 250 employees.
Deloitte's 2025 Gen Z and Millennial Survey adds international context, finding that 40% of Gen Z and 34% of Millennials globally say they feel stressed or anxious all or most of the time, with longer-term financial concerns cited as the most significant contributor for both groups.
Moxham said the evidence "reinforces the need for a broad and generation-agnostic approach to mental health support in employee benefits," adding that group risk benefits, employer-sponsored life assurance, income protection and critical illness, "have long included support for stress and mental wellbeing" and "can provide a practical and cost-effective way to support a diverse workforce" for employers who don't already offer them.
