Some members of Gen Z are feeling so pessimistic about the future of the country and modern technology that they want to hop in a time machine.

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Nearly half (47%) of adults ages 18-29 said if they had the option, they’d choose to live in the past, according to a newNBC News Decision Desk Poll powered by SurveyMonkey. One-third said they’d pick a time period less than 50 years in the past, while another 14% said they’d choose more than 50 years in the past.

Meanwhile, 38% of Gen Zers said they’d prefer to live in the present, 10% said they’d go less than 50 years in the future, and 5% chose more than 50 years in the future.

The results were largely consistent across gender lines and partisan divides, though young Black adults were less likely to say they’d prefer to live in the past (33%) than young white adults (52%) or young Hispanic adults (47%).

The broader sentiment underscores the negative outlook many young Americans feel about their future prospects and the state of the country. The poll found that 62% of Gen Z respondents said they expect life will be worse for them compared to previous generations, compared to 25% who said it will be better and 13% who said it would be about the same.

And 80% of Gen Z adults said the United States is on the wrong track, the highest share of any age group in the survey.

In interviews with NBC News, young adults said the desire to live in the past is shaped by their relationship with technology and a growing discomfort with being connected to the internet at all times. Nostalgia for a previous era can bring a sense of community and comfort to Gen Zers who are anxious about an uncertain technological and geopolitical future, they said.

The desire to live in the recent past is part of a growing trend among young adults interested in the culture, fashion and technology of the 1980s, ’90s and early 2000s.

Just look at thegrowing resurgenceof claw clips, baggy jeans and strappy tops among young women. Or the flourishing markets forcassette tapesandiPodsand the recentsocial media obsessionwith ’90s figures like John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette, prompted in part by the FX TV series “Love Story.”

Source: Drudge Report