For adults working full-time jobs, finding time for yourself can be a struggle, especially if you have a family with dependents to take care of. According to a 2024 study from Business Insider, the average American has between four and six hours of leisure time per day.
At least some of that leisure time is probably soaked up by doom-scrolling social media, so the time American adults have for their hobbies is pretty small on a day-to-day basis.
Despite this lack of time, adults, particularly older Millennials, are spending more on their hobbies in recent months than they have previously, according to Bank of America customer account data.
Americans increase hobby spending
According to BofA, hobby spending rose 7.9% year over year in August, more than doubling the pace of transactional growth, meaning that hobbyists are spending more money, not spending money more often.
Older Millennials were the biggest drivers of this increase, according to BofA card data, despite having the least amount of leisure time of any generation. The bank defines hobby spending as money spent at arts and crafts stores, hobby shops, outdoor recreation service providers, and retailers that specialize in activities like hiking, camping, skiing, and scuba diving.
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Spending growth nearly doubled transaction growth, which rose 3.4% year over year. This trend is the opposite of last August, when transaction growth outpaced spending growth by nearly a percentage point. It is also a major rebound from August 2023, when spending fell nearly 4% while transactions rose nearly 1%.
What’s driving the increase in spending?
¨In our view, it’s likely that people splurged on hobbies amid social distancing during the pandemic, then gravitated back toward pricier alternatives like travel throughout 2022 and 2023,¨ BofA analysts said. ¨However, last year there may have been some rotation back to less expensive leisure like hobbies as after-tax wage growth slowed considerably.¨
¨Bank of America card data suggests there’s been a recent acceleration in hobby spending in the past few months, possibly as some consumers balance shift away from travel due to higher prices from rising fuel costs.¨
Hobby spending shifts across generations
As mentioned above, not every generation spends on hobbies in the same way.
Older Millennials have the largest share of their population spending money on hobbies, followed closely by Baby Boomers then Gen X. BofA analysts theorize that this discrepancy is ¨likely because this group is most likely to have young children. Which may mean older Millennials not only spend on their own hobbies but on their kids’ as well.¨
The three-month moving average for Millennial hobby spend is about $210, while Baby Boomers and Gen X spent closer to $200 each. Meanwhile, younger Millennials spent an average of $150, and Gen Z spent less than $100 during the time period.
BofA’s theory that older Millennials are spending much of this hobby money on their kids is supported by a recent U.S. Census Bureau survey, which suggests older Millennials have the least daily leisure time, at around 4 hours and 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, the groups aged 15-24 and 55-64 have nearly five and a half hours of daily leisure time. Those 65 and over have over seven hours daily.
¨On the other hand, younger Millennials and Gen Z have the lowest average spending, but a higher share of their population with hobby outlays,¨according to BofA. ¨To us, this suggests that these generations are likely gravitating most of their spending toward less expensivehobbies like arts, crafts and board games.¨
Gen Z and Baby Boomers share something in common
While Millennials, both older and younger, and Gen X are increasing their hobby spending, Baby Boomers and Gen Z are going in the opposite direction.
Gen Z hobby transaction growth was nearly zero in August, a dramatic slowdown from the 16% year over year increase the year prior. The overall decrease was driven by a large decrease in outdoor recreation spending, which tends to be more expensive, while Gen Z is gravitating towards arts and crafts retailers and hobby shops.
¨Additionally, some transactions at hobby shops may require less frequent purchases like board games or tabletop role-playing games. The social component to these activities can’t be overlooked as a factor. In fact, over a quarter of Gen Z said they feel a sense of belonging to a streaming or gaming community,¨ according to a BofA survey. ¨This is almost two and half times as high as younger Millennials and over eight times the rate of Baby Boomers.¨
Gen Z has seen their video game spending increase by around 20% year over year in August after an increase of 30% the year prior. BofA’s data suggests that over a quarter of Gen Z have video game spending, over four times the rate of boomers. Younger Millennials have the next highest rate at over 23% while older Millennials have about a 20% rate.
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