Gen Z Say Wellness Matters More Than Ever, and Mental Health Support Isn't Keeping Up

A McKinsey line that's been doing the rounds since 2023 claims 84 per cent of US consumers rate wellness a top or important priority, with younger people feeling the biggest gaps in mental health. This includes practices like yours, assuming the number holds up, which is not entirely clear.

Page updated: 13 Aug 2026

Whole-practice growth for wellness practices. Rooted in Wiltshire, UK, working worldwide.

Practices tempted to lean on this figure to justify a mental health offer are leaning on a stat McKinsey never quite finished explaining.

Original Research	A frequently repeated claim that most US consumers now treat wellness as essential, with Gen Z reporting the sharpest unmet needs in mental, cognitive, heart, and gut health.
Source	https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/consumer-packaged-goods/our-insights/future-of-wellness-trends
Overview	A McKinsey insights page touching on consumer wellness priorities, though no underlying report, survey name, or methodology is named on it.
Year	2023
Publisher	Brand, McKinsey & Company
Relevance to Wellbeing	Directionally interesting for therapy and mental-health-adjacent practices, but there's no named survey, sample, or method behind the headline number, so it belongs in the "industry talking point" pile rather than the "cite with confidence" one.
Our Verdict	Too early to tell the headline figure has no visible source, sample size, or methodology attached to it anywhere, just McKinsey saying so.
Our Summary	The general direction, more people prioritising wellness and mental health as an under-served bit of it, lines up with better-documented surveys elsewhere. Nobody, including the page itself, says how the 84 per cent figure was arrived at. The page couldn't even be reliably fetched when checked, which is not a great sign for a stat you might quote to a client. It's a familiar-sounding number, so it won't raise eyebrows in a pitch, provided you don't call it "research".
Our Geo View	The claim is drawn from US consumers only; treat any UK or wider relevance as assumed, not confirmed.

Abstract of wellbeing niches and revenue flow

Recognise how this might impact your practice

Why this might matter to you

Coaching: this matters because clients already believe wellness is essential, so coaches don't need to sell the concept, just their version of it.
Therapy: this matters because if the mental health gap claim is even roughly true, therapists are sitting on demand that's going unmet somewhere else.
Training: this matters because "wellness as a top priority" gives trainers a broader story than just fitness, if they fancy telling it.
Alternative Healing: this matters because a rising general interest in wellness tends to lift all boats, including the less conventional ones.
Clinical: this matters because clinics quoting consumer sentiment stats should know this one wouldn't survive a compliance check.
Retreat/Centre: this matters because "young people feel the gap most" is a useful line for a retreat aimed at a younger crowd, hedges and all.

Where this came from

A McKinsey page suggesting most US consumers now rank wellness alongside family as a life priority, with Gen Z feeling the shortfall hardest in mental, cognitive, heart, and gut health.

McKinsey & Company, published on their own site, exact date unclear. The page failed to load properly when Sunlight tried to verify it, and no separate report or survey document is linked from it.

Credibility flags: methodology not disclosed, sample size not disclosed, publisher type Brand (self-published insights, not an independently commissioned study).

How we scored this

A relevance score out of 100, built from three things: how well it fits the six practice types, how recent it is, and how solid the methodology behind it is.

32%

Practice fit, 50How new, 40How solid, 0

Marked down hard on how solid the method is, since there isn't one to point to, held roughly steady on how relevant the topic is to wellbeing practices, and nudged down slightly on recency given the stat has been circulating since 2023.

It's worth considering changes to your marketing practices

What this means for your marketing

Use the "wellness as a top priority" line as a mood, not a footnote, and don't attach a percentage to it.
If a client or journalist asks where the 84 per cent figure comes from, say plainly that it's an unattributed industry claim, not a study.
Put the mental health gap angle in front of therapy and coaching copy, but back it with a properly sourced stat, like the BACP figures, not this one.
Brief your team now on the difference between "McKinsey says" and "a McKinsey page says", so nobody repeats this one as gospel in a client call.
Save this page as a "watch, don't cite" entry until a proper source turns up.

Who this is most useful for

Practice type	Relevance	Recommended action
Coaching	Medium	Use the general sentiment, skip the specific number.
Therapy	Medium	Pair the mental health gap idea with a properly sourced stat before using it publicly.
Training	Low	Mention only as background colour, not as evidence.
Alternative Healing	Low	Fine for tone, not for a claims-heavy page.
Clinical Practices	Low	Avoid citing this one anywhere near a regulator.
Retreats/Centres	Medium	Use the Gen Z angle in marketing copy, without the percentage attached.

Best before

Best before: revisit this one only if McKinsey ever publishes the underlying survey with a named methodology; until then, treat it as permanently provisional.