Latest news with #CouponBirds
Newsweek
05-05-2025
- Business
- Newsweek
Gen Z Is Fueling 'Quiet Proposing' Trend
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Generation Z may be known for creating new workplace trends, but their approach to dating and marriage can also be distinctly different from their older counterparts. While baby boomers, Gen X and millennials may have enjoyed big elaborate proposals, Gen Z looks to be more inclined to "quiet proposing," according to a new survey from Diamonds Factory. Instead of one partner surprising the other with a flashy marriage proposal and a ring picked out without their knowledge, Diamonds Factory found more than 50 percent of all engagement ring shoppers are now accompanied by their partner in 2025. Why It Matters Gen Z includes those born into the years 1997 to 2012. The younger generation is bringing forth many changes to both workplace dynamics and personal relationships. While in part due to their younger age, it is far more common for Gen Z-ers to be single, according to a survey from Coupon Birds earlier this year. Just under half, 46 percent of Gen Z was single, the survey found. That compared to 28 percent of millennials, 26 percent of Gen Xers and 22 percent of baby boomers. What To Know While more than half of all engagement ring shoppers are accompanied by their partner in 2025, according to the Diamonds Factory survey, this marks a stark contrast to how many couples of previous generations went about their engagements. This shows that for many couples, the engagement and ring purchase is looked at as a mutual decision rather than a surprise. Ring shoppers also brought their parents in 18 percent of cases, according to Diamonds Factory, and 11 percent of people brought a sibling or friend. Just 18 percent of ring shoppers came in alone. Micaela Beltran, a Gen Z-er and the co-founder and CEO of Courtly, told Newsweek she and her husband opted for a quiet proposal to honor the authenticity of their relationship. "We skipped the big reveal and, instead, worked with an independent designer. We ended up with a ring that feels like us. No staged moment, no surprise audience, just a shared decision," Beltran said. "The appeal is pretty simple: Gen Z is wary of anything that looks engineered for social media, and budgets are tight enough that splashing out on a dramatic scene can feel tone-deaf. Collaborating on the ring let us start the marriage the way we plan to keep it—practical, transparent, and focused on what matters to us rather than putting on a show." Many of the younger Gen Z couples are choosing "quiet proposals" because they value communication and shared decision making over tradition. "We went back-and-forth about the ring, what website to buy it from, how I wanted it to look etc. before I made a decision and told him what I wanted," another Gen Z-er, Hannah Macie, told Newsweek. "We did this because we had kinda already agreed we wanted to get married and we wanted to make sure I got what I wanted with the ring." Many of the quiet proposals also reflect a more egalitarian approach to marriage, whereas other generations may have been more inclined to have the man make the ring decision. "I think it reveals that our generation has relationships that are more of an equal power dynamic in my opinion," Macie said. "A guy picking out a ring himself then proposing without talking much to his partner about what they wanted, whether they even wanted a future together would be kind of bold and reveals a certain power dynamic, to me at least. Us talking about our future together and picking out a ring together is more of an equal power dynamic." JoJo Fletcher shows her engagement ring at the Levi's Store Times Square on October 30, 2019, in New York City. JoJo Fletcher shows her engagement ring at the Levi's Store Times Square on October 30, 2019, in New York People Are Saying Diamonds Factory jewelry expert Ella Citron-Thompkins said in a statement: "Quiet proposing is a new trend where engagements are kept intimate and private, without public displays or widespread announcements, focusing on a personal, low-key moment for the couple. More couples wanting to choose a ring together reflects a shift towards a more intentional, collaborative proposal process." "Rather than rejecting romance, it shows that many modern, Gen-Z couples value communication and shared decision-making over tradition for tradition's sake. It's less about the surprise and more about ensuring the moment—and the ring—truly reflects both people involved." Leah Levi, psychologist and dating expert at the explorationship app Flure, told Newsweek: "More and more couples feel they don't need a show to confirm their love. It is important to them that it is a shared choice, not a romantic gesture with 'surprise' elements. Couples realize they don't have to perform to express their true feelings. They took time and did not seek to make a big announcement to the world about the status change of their relationship." What Happens Next? Levi said the quiet proposal trend is a "sign of maturity" as Gen Z grew up amid an unstable economy. "With student debt, rent, and financial uncertainty on their shoulders, spending money on a luxury seems a tad bit disproportionate," Levi said. "However, it's not even an issue with money, or at least not a primary one. It's that relationships are now based on honesty, equality, and managing realistic expectations. People want to be confident in themselves and the partnership, not in how creative and expensive the gesture will be." Since Gen Z has been more critical of following outdated patterns and grew up with social media, they crave authenticity, Levi said, and the trend could only escalate moving forward. "Gen Z sees no point in spending money and effort on something that has no real value," she added. "A quiet proposal is a statement of recognition that relationships are not a performance for others."
Newsweek
24-04-2025
- Business
- Newsweek
Server Can't Believe What Gen Z Diners Leave on Check Instead of Tip
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. A restaurant server was left stunned by what a group of teenagers she seated left her in lieu of a tip. Janet, 22, who chose not to share her real name or location, other than to say she works "at a chain restaurant in the southern Midwestern area," is no stranger to being "stiffed" on a tip by customers. "It comes with the territory of being a server," Janet told Newsweek. "People have their reasons for not tipping, if they felt service wasn't good or if they just have a moral or ethical stance against it." There was something different about what played out when she served a group of around a dozen "18- or 19-year-olds" one Tuesday night recently. Things seemed to go relatively smoothly. "I thought I was doing well keeping up with everything," Janet said. "The only time management stepped in was to run drinks because I asked them to." That was reflected in the tips Janet received from the other tables served that night. "All of my other tables tipped at or over 20 percent," she said. "Like, one table tipped $50 on $170. I was running my butt off trying to stack as many tasks as possible." Tips are of huge importance to service workers. A 2024 survey of nearly 1,200 Americans by CouponBirds found around 6 in 10 service workers rely on tips for more than 30 percent of their income. Janet is one of those workers. "Tips are how I make almost all of my income," she said. "My weekly paycheck is only $100 after taxes." Failure to get a good tip on a table can be significant. "Something that a lot of people don't realize is that a lot of restaurants in the U.S. share tips," she said. "For me, I have to tip out 2.5 percent (weekdays) to 5 percent (weekends) of my credit sales to support staff. That's regardless of if a table tips or not. It normally averages out to about a table's-worth of tips that I have to pay out each night." That's what made what happened next so bizarre and frustrating. When Janet went to collect the bill from the group of teens, she noticed that, in place of a tip, whoever settled the bill had left her a three-word message: "Wear a life jacket." Janet was initially confused by the comment. "I thought it was a funny joke at first because we had gotten historic flooding in our area recently," she said. "The manager thought so, too. They were bewildered for me, and so was all the other staff." It was only afterwards that she discovered the upsetting truth behind what the message meant. Janet said: "Bartender pulled me aside and told me that the table came up to see if they could tip the manager instead. She said that they told her they left the note because 'I was drowning in work.'" This was baffling to Janet. "If all my other tables were upset with me, or if management sided with them, I could totally look at myself and say, 'Yeah, I deserved no tip or a bad tip,'" she said. " But if everyone else thought I was doing great, so I don't know what they were thinking." The whole experience has left her disappointed since she felt she had done as well as she could with the group. "I try to keep an open mind with every table. I never know what someone is going through before they come in," Janet said. However, the response she got was a disappointing one, so much so, in fact, she ended up sharing the message scrawled on the receipt to Reddit under the handle u/Wrong_Confection331. She said she hopes it might encourage others to do better by their servers. "I just wish they would have been more understanding of what was going on," Janet added.
