The Hobby Economy Is Booming: Why Older Millennials Are Spending More on Their Passions
Trend: Indulgence. Older millennials are turning hobbies into a meaningful household spending priority, investing more heavily in activities that make limited leisure time feel rewarding. Bank of America Institute data shows older millennials spending more per hobby customer than any other generation, with their hobby spending a little more than twice Gen Z's level, revealing an emerging Hobby Economy built around passions, activities and everyday enjoyment.
The shift is particularly interesting because it is happening while this age group has relatively little free time. Rather than waiting for more leisure, consumers with sufficient financial flexibility appear increasingly willing to spend more on making the leisure they already have more meaningful.
Why Everyone Is Talking About It: Hobbies Are Becoming Serious Spending
Older millennials are pulling ahead in hobby spending across several measures. They spend the most per customer, a larger share of them participate in hobby spending than any other generation, and their hobby-related spending has accelerated over the past two years while spending or transactions among most other generations has cooled.
Bank of America's definition covers a broad leisure economy including arts and crafts, hobby stores, outdoor recreation, ski resorts, scuba, adventure activities and educational toys. The result suggests hobbies are becoming commercially significant ecosystems rather than simply occasional purchases.
HOBBY AS SPARE-TIME ACTIVITY → HOBBY AS HOUSEHOLD SPENDING PRIORITY
➡️ Viral Insight: Passion is becoming purchasing power. When consumers care deeply about an activity, spending can extend from a single product into equipment, supplies, services and repeated participation.
Why Consumers Are Changing: Limited Time Makes Leisure More Valuable
The central paradox is that older millennials are not leading hobby spending because they necessarily have abundant free time. Adults aged 35 to 44 average around four hours and 15 minutes of leisure per day, the lowest amount among the Census Bureau age groups cited in the report. Yet their spending suggests leisure is becoming part of household budgeting rather than merely an individual pursuit.
Their life stage may help explain the shift. Older millennials are entering peak earning years, while some are moving into larger homes and increasingly directing income toward homeownership, family needs and lifestyle interests. Hobbies can also include spending for children and relatives, meaning the hobby economy can combine personal enjoyment with household and family recreation.
I DON'T HAVE MORE FREE TIME — BUT I WANT THE FREE TIME I HAVE TO MATTER MORE.
➡️ Consumer Insight: Scarcity of time can increase the value consumers place on leisure rather than reduce it. When free time is limited, consumers may become more willing to invest in activities that make those hours feel personally rewarding.
Who Is Driving This Trend: The Passion Investors
Older millennials are emerging as a distinct consumer segment with significant purchasing power. Bank of America finds their hobby spending increasingly resembles Gen X and baby boomers more than younger millennials or Gen Z, which its economist suggests may reflect age and life stage rather than simply a generational wealth divide.
Their interests can also become embedded in the physical household. More space may accommodate not only growing families but craft rooms, home offices or gaming rooms, illustrating how leisure interests can influence what consumers buy, how they organize their homes and where they direct discretionary income.
Core Motivations: Make My Free Time Count
Enjoyment – Give Me Something to Look Forward ToConsumers want to spend their limited leisure time on activities that provide genuine pleasure and personal reward.
Passion – Let Me Invest in What I LoveConsumers want to dedicate money and attention to interests that have become meaningful parts of their lives.
Escape – Give Me a Break From ResponsibilityConsumers want to create leisure moments that provide separation from work, household demands and everyday pressures.
Fulfillment – Make Leisure Feel MeaningfulConsumers want to develop interests that provide satisfaction beyond passive consumption.
Connection – Let Us Enjoy It TogetherConsumers want to use hobbies and activities to create shared leisure experiences with family, children or other people around them.
Value – Make Fun Worth the SpendConsumers want to find rewarding leisure experiences that justify discretionary spending without necessarily requiring a major trip or expensive escape.
➡️ Audience Insight: The hobby spender is investing in more than products. Consumers are allocating money toward activities that can make limited leisure time feel richer, more personal and more rewarding.
Why This Trend Matters Right Now: Fun Is Becoming a Budget Category
Bank of America describes part of the current spending pattern as “funflation.” Hobby spending increased 7.9% year over year in August, while transactions increased only 3.4%, indicating that consumers are spending more per hobby transaction rather than simply making many more purchases.
There may also be substitution within discretionary spending. Bank of America suggests consumers could be rotating away from more expensive travel as rising fuel costs increase airfare, positioning hobbies as a potentially less expensive alternative for households still willing to spend on equipment, activities and recreation.
EXPENSIVE ESCAPE → ACCESSIBLE PASSION
➡️ Why It Matters: Consumers do not necessarily stop prioritizing enjoyment when one form of leisure becomes more expensive. Spending can migrate toward alternative activities that continue to provide pleasure while fitting more comfortably within household budgets and routines.
Viral Potential: Passions Naturally Create Communities
Hobbies give consumers something to do repeatedly rather than something to consume once. Arts and crafts, outdoor recreation, adventure activities and other interests can generate ongoing participation, learning and purchasing as consumers deepen their involvement.
The diversity of hobby categories also means passion is highly personal. Different consumers can participate in completely different activities while sharing the same underlying desire to dedicate scarce leisure time to something they genuinely value.
INTEREST → PARTICIPATION → INVESTMENT → DEEPER PASSION
➡️ Viral Potential: Hobbies become more powerful as participation deepens. Each new skill, activity or piece of equipment can create another reason to remain engaged with the passion.
Marketing Strategy: Build Around the Passion, Not Just the Purchase
The growth opportunity extends beyond selling individual hobby products. Brands can build around the full participation journey, recognizing that consumers may repeatedly invest in equipment, supplies, services and activities as their interests develop.
Strategy Area | Opportunity |
Product – Passion Ecosystems | Build Beyond the Product. Develop complementary equipment, supplies and services that support consumers as they deepen participation in an interest. |
Pricing – Accessible Indulgence | Make Fun Feel Worth It. Position hobbies as rewarding discretionary spending that can deliver repeated enjoyment without necessarily requiring the cost of larger leisure experiences. |
Promotion – Passion Identity | Celebrate What Consumers Love. Connect products to the interests, skills and activities consumers increasingly see as meaningful parts of their lives. |
Distribution – Participation Access | Meet Consumers Inside the Hobby. Create easier access to products and services across the places where consumers discover, practice and develop their interests. |
Innovation – Leisure Ecosystems | Turn Interests Into Journeys. Build propositions that can evolve as consumers move from curiosity to participation and deeper investment. |
➡️ Strategic Insight: The opportunity is not simply to sell consumers another leisure product, but to help them participate more deeply in something they already care about. Passion creates the possibility of repeated engagement rather than a single discretionary purchase.
Trend Snapshot: Passion Becomes Purchasing Power
The hobby economy shows how leisure can become a meaningful spending priority even when consumers have limited free time. For older millennials in particular, increasing earnings, changing household circumstances and evolving leisure priorities are creating a consumer segment willing to invest heavily in physical and activity-based interests.
Trend Dimension | Insight |
Broad Trend – Indulgence | Make Room for Enjoyment. Consumers with sufficient financial flexibility are protecting spending on activities that make everyday life more rewarding. |
Industry Trend – Hobby Economy | Passion Becomes Purchasing Power. Arts and crafts, outdoor recreation, educational toys and activity-based interests are becoming meaningful consumer spending categories. |
Lifestyle Trend – Passion Living | Invest in What I Love. Hobbies become more integrated into identity, household routines and discretionary spending. |
Strategy – Passion Economy | Monetize the Interest. Build products, services and experiences around consumers willing to invest repeatedly in activities they care about. |
Consumer Motivation – Enjoyment | Make My Free Time Count. Consumers want limited leisure time to deliver meaningful pleasure and personal reward. |
Consumer Drive – Passion | Spend on What Matters to Me. Strong personal interests create willingness to dedicate money, space and attention to hobbies. |
Business Opportunity – Hobby Ecosystems | Build Around the Passion. Brands can extend beyond individual products into equipment, services, activities and repeat participation. |
Innovation Outlook – Home-Centered Leisure | Bring More Experience Closer to Home. Hobbies can offer repeatable leisure experiences without requiring the cost or commitment associated with major trips. |
➡️ Trend Snapshot Insight: INDULGENCE → HOBBY ECONOMY → PASSION LIVING. As consumers invest more deliberately in how they spend limited free time, hobbies can move from peripheral interests toward meaningful components of household spending and everyday identity.
Final Thoughts: Free Time Is Becoming More Valuable
Older millennials demonstrate that having less leisure time does not necessarily mean spending less on leisure. For consumers with sufficient financial flexibility, limited time can make meaningful hobbies more valuable, encouraging greater spending on activities, equipment and interests that make everyday life more enjoyable.
But this is not a universal millennial story. Fortune emphasizes a growing divide within the generation, while the underlying Bank of America data cannot establish that homeownership itself causes higher hobby spending. Gen Z is simultaneously developing a different leisure economy, with nearly 28% of customers spending on online or video games and video-game spending rising around 20% year over year, highlighting how life stage and financial circumstances can produce very different forms of leisure consumption.
➡️ Final Insight: Consumers with limited free time are increasingly willing to invest in making that time feel more rewarding. The hobby economy turns passion into a meaningful spending category shaped by life stage, income, household circumstances and changing leisure priorities. As time becomes more precious, what consumers choose to do with it can become increasingly valuable.
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