A platform asked young people between the ages of 12 and 28 what they do online. Notably, many teenagers are already actively converting their online time into money.
Where do the numbers come from? The social commerce platform Whop surveyed 2,002 Americans from Gen Alpha and Gen Z about how they spend their time online (via Whop.com). The data is from 2024.
Surprisingly, more than half of the respondents stated that they use their time on the internet not only for chatting but especially for making money. Particularly the Alpha Generation (born between 2010 and 2025) is leading in this regard.
15-year-olds already earn an annual salary of approximately $28,000 if they worked full-time
Here are the numbers: Generation Alpha is already utilizing their screen time very intensively. Almost half (47.1%) are actively earning money through digital side jobs such as selling vintage clothing, streaming video games, and posting on social media.
On average, members of Gen Alpha earn $13.92 per hour with their digital activities. For comparison, the federal minimum wage in the USA has been $7.25 per hour since 2009.
If we take the hourly wage as the basis for calculations, then the maximum 15-year-olds already achieve an annual income of $28,000 if they worked full-time, all before turning 16 and being allowed to get a driver’s license. At the upper end of the scale, 1.7% of Gen Alpha and Gen Z earned more than $40,000 last year.
How is money earned?
- The most common side income is reselling new or used clothing (20.1%). Clothing expenses are said to already be included in the aforementioned annual income.
- Another group earns money through streaming video games (14.1%).
- Others earn money by participating in eSports tournaments (13.1%).
- About one in ten monetizes content by posting it on social media or sharing YouTube videos, podcasts, or livestreams in short, shareable clips (10.5%).
- A small portion earns their online income through brand sponsorships (9.1%).
More than half of Generation Alpha (51.5%) report that they intend to turn their side job into a full-fledged career.
What is Gen Alpha doing with the money? Many invest in cryptocurrencies or stocks or set aside money for college, a house, or a major purchase. However, many primarily have one goal: independence from their parents’ money:
- 48.3% state that they want to earn money with their side jobs without relying on their parents.
- The second most common reason is to save money for a major experience or product, with 41.5% saving for travel, technology, or their first car.
The willingness to save money is also a significant difference compared to the Gen Z, who find saving pointless and prefer to engage in Doomspending
rather than setting money aside.
Gen Z, Gen Alpha, and the so-called Boomer generation differ significantly from each other when it comes to spending money. We present items that are daily used or purchased by “Boomers”, which are barely relevant to Generation Z: 6 things that Boomers spend money on every year that Gen Z would not do today
