Millennials vs. Gen Xers: A Time Use Study

How is daily time use different for today's younger adults versus those a generation ago? That is the question posed by Bureau of Labor Statistics' economist Michelle Freeman in the Monthly Labor Review. Analyzing data from the American Time Use Survey, Freeman compares the time use of Gen Xers in 2003, when they were aged 23 to 38, with the time use of Millennials aged 23 to 38 in 2019. 

Some things have not changed. Work, for example, took up just as much time on an average day for Millennials in 2019 as it did for Gen Xers in 2003. On an average day, 56 percent of Millennials and 55 percent of Gen Xers worked. On days worked, both Millennials and Gen Xers logged an average of 7.7 hours of labor. 

Some things changed in ways you might expect. Millennials in 2019 spent less time than Gen Xers did in 2003 caring for and helping household members. "This difference between the generations is driven by a decline in the share of women who spent time providing childcare—47 percent of millennial women spent time caring for household children on an average day, compared with 55 percent of Generation X women," Freeman explains. The reason for this difference: Millennials are less likely to live in households with children because of delayed marriage and childbearing. 

Here's another "makes sense" kind of change: Millennial men spend more time than Gen X men did playing games. Millennial men spend an average of 28 minutes a day playing video games versus the 10 minutes Gen X men devoted to the activity. "This increase in the time men spent playing games across generations mirrors the growth observed in the video gaming industry over time," Freeman notes. 

Some of the differences in time use are unexpected, such as the fact that Millennials are significantly more likely to care for animals and pets on an average day. In 2003, only 10 percent of Gen Xers cared for pets on an average day. In 2019, a larger 17 percent of Millennials cared for pets. The Millennial penchant for pets is one reason why overall pet spending soared in the past two decades. Households headed by 25-to-34-year-olds in 2003 spent $239 annually on pets, reports Freeman ($332 in 2019 dollars). Households headed by 25-to-34-year-olds in 2019 spent a much larger $522 on pets—a 57 percent increase, after adjusting for inflation. 

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Time Use of Millennials and Generation X: Differences Across Time

Big Spending Declines in 2020

Of course household spending declined in 2020. We know that. We all cut back. But the latest mid-year household spending statistics released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics reveal just how deep those cuts were.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics produces not only calendar-year household spending data, but also mid-year data. The latest release shows average household spending for the July 2019 through June 2020 time period. A comparison of these mid-year data with those from one year earlier captures the dramatic decline in household spending as the coronavirus pandemic swept the country. 

Percent change in average household spending on selected products and services, July 2018-June 2019 to July 2019-June 2020 (in 2020 dollars)

  -3.4%: total spending by the average household

 +1.9%: food at home

 +3.8%: maintenance/repairs for owned homes

-14.8%: food away from home

-18.6%: women's clothes 

-20.1%: men's clothes

-27.8%: public transportation

-31.7%: fees and admissions to entertainment events

Overall household spending fell 3 percent by mid-year 2020 compared to the previous mid-year number, after adjusting for inflation. The decline was much greater for the sectors most impacted by the pandemic. Average household spending on fees and admissions to entertainment events plunged 32 percent. Spending on public transportation fell 28 percent. Spending on food away from home (mostly restaurant meals) was down 15 percent. Meanwhile, spending on food at home (groceries) grew 2 percent, and spending on maintenance and repairs for owned homes (home improvements) climbed 4 percent. None of these trends is a surprise.

But there are a couple of surprises uncovered by Demo Memo's analysis of the mid-year spending statistics. Average household spending on alcoholic beverages did not increase as some have suggested. Instead, spending on alcoholic beverages fell 4 percent between 2018-19 and 2019-20, after adjusting for inflation. This decline likely is the result of greatly reduced alcoholic beverage spending at bars and restaurants during the pandemic. Another surprise was a decline in spending on pets. With so many working from home, there were reports of a surge in new pet owners. But average household spending on pets fell 5 percent between 2018-19 and 2019-20.

Source: Demo Memo analysis of the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Expenditure Survey

We Spend More on Pets than Child Care

The average American household spent $681 on pets in 2019, including pet food, veterinary services, medicines, toys, grooming, doggy daycare, and so on. This is more than the average household spent on cable television ($647) and many other items, such as...

Alcoholic beverages ($579)

Lodging on trips ($619)

Child care ($429)

Internet services ($557)

Furniture ($521)

Women's clothes ($602)

Airline fares ($513)

Drugs ($486)

Average household spending on pets was 21 percent greater in 2019 than in 2010 ($563), after adjusting for inflation. It was more than double the $311 spent by the average household in 2000. But the 2019 figure is not the highest it has ever been. Peak pet spending occurred in 2017, when the average household spent $740 on pets. 

Source: Demo Memo analysis of unpublished tables from the Bureau of Labor Statistics 2019 Consumer Expenditure Survey

Most Gen X Households Have a Dog

Overall, 61 percent of American households have a pet, according to the 2018 General Social Survey. Among Gen Xers, the share is 66 percent, making them the most pet-friendly generation. This makes sense, since many acquired pets as they married and had children. Millennials are in the process of doing the same.

Percent of households with pets by generation, 2018

	Any pet	Dog	Cat
Total households	61%	46%	25%
Millennials	60	43	23
Generation Xers	66	53	28
Boomers	62	50	23
Older Americans	45	33	18

Boomers are about as likely as Millennials to have a pet. Among older Americans (the Silent and World War II generations) fewer than half of households have a pet. Many once had a pet, however. When asked whether they had a pet five years ago, 57 percent of older Americans said yes.

Note: In 2018, Millennials were aged 24 to 41, Generation Xers were aged 42 to 53, Baby Boomers were aged 54 to 72, and Older Americans were aged 73 or older.

Source: Demo Memo analysis of the General Social Survey

How Many Households Have Pets? Now We Know

Pets are a big deal to millions of Americans. The average household spends more on pets than it does on any other entertainment item (pet spending is categorized as entertainment by the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Expenditure Survey). Despite this importance, good data on pet ownership is hard to find. A January article in the Washington Post called the estimates of pet ownership "fuzzy statistics" because they are all over the place, ranging from a low of 49 percent of households (American Housing Survey) to a high of 68 percent of households (American Pet Products Association), according to the Post article.

Now we have a more precise estimate, thanks to the National Opinion Research Center's General Social Survey (GSS). The GSS has been conducted biennially since 1972, but not until 2018 did it ask about pet ownership. The finding: 61 percent of households own pets.

What makes this estimate more accurate than others? The GSS pet estimate is better than the American Housing Survey estimate because the GSS pet module was designed specifically to collect data on pet ownership, asking nearly a dozen questions about pets. In contrast, the American Housing Survey asked only a single question, the purpose of which was to provide information for emergency management—would you need assistance in evacuating or sheltering pets? Respondents could answer yes, no, or no pets. It's no surprise that the resulting estimate lowballed pet ownership in the United States.

The GSS estimate is better than the American Pet Products Association (APPA) estimate because of the stellar methodology of the GSS. Starting with a full probability sample design, the GSS is conducted primarily through in-person interviews and has a response rate of more than 60 percent. In contrast, respondents to the APPA survey are recruited online, an "opt-in" methodology that is likely to oversample pet owners. That explains why the APPA data highballed pet ownership.

Back to the 61 percent. That's the great majority of households, folks. The GSS results show that 24 percent of households have one pet, and 36 percent have two or more...

Households by number of pets
No pets: 39%
1 pet: 24%
2 pets: 14%
3 or more pets: 22%

A substantial 46 percent of households have dogs and 25 percent have cats. A handful of households have birds (4 percent), fish (4 percent), small mammals such as gerbils (4 percent), reptiles (3 percent), and horses (1 percent).

When those living without pets are asked why they have resisted the call of the wild, the single most common reason is that they are too busy (36 percent). Another 20 percent say they simply aren't interested. Allergies or health risks are cited by 13 percent, and residential restrictions prevent 11 percent from becoming pet owners.

Source: Demo Memo analysis of the 2018 General Social Survey

Pet Spending Rises 19% between 2016 and 2017

No price is too high to pay for our pets, apparently. The average American household spent $710 on pets in 2017, according to the Consumer Expenditure Survey. That's a stunning 19 percent more than the average household spent on pets just a year earlier in 2016, after adjusting for inflation. Here is the trend since 2010...

Average household spending on pets, 2010 to 2017 (in 2017$)
2017: $710
2016: $596
2015: $546
2010: $540

The Consumer Expenditure Survey places pet spending in the entertainment category. With the 2017 surge in pet spending, pets have become the entertainment item on which the average household spends the most. What did it topple from the number-one spot? Cable and satellite television service.

Source: Demo Memo analysis of the Consumer Expenditure Survey

Pets Outnumber People in the U.S.

There are more pets than people in the United States, according to the 2017–2018 APPA (American Pet Products Association) National Pet Owners Survey. Our nation is home to 326 million people and 393 million pets. The 68 percent majority of households own at least one pet, and many own more than one...

Percentage of households owning pets by type (and average number owned)
Dogs: 48%(1.5)
Cats: 38% (2.0)
Fish, freshwater: 10% (11.1)
Birds: 6% (2.6)
Small animals: 5% (2.1)
Reptiles: 4% (2.0)
Horses: 2% (2.9)
Fish, saltwater: 2% (7.5)

Most owners dote on their pets by giving them treats and gifts. Nearly all dog owners (95 percent) dole out treats. So do 80 percent of cat owners and even 54 percent of the owners of reptiles. Gift giving is almost as prevalent as the provision of treats. Seventy-eight percent of dog owners give their dogs gifts, as do 67 percent of cat owners. Even reptile owners show generosity: 46 percent gave their reptile a gift in the past year, with 14 percent giving it a Christmas gift.

Source: APPA, 2017–18 APPA National Pet Owners Survey

Pet Health Care Spending Looks Very Human

Americans love their pets. They love them so much that spending on pet health care mirrors spending on human health care. "Many features of the American pet health care sector are, qualitatively, remarkably similar to those of the American human health care sector," reports a National Bureau of Economic Research working paper. Here are the similarities...

• Spending on pet and human health care surged between 1996 and 2012. Human spending grew 50 percent and pet spending grew 60 percent during those years, after adjusting for inflation. 
• For both types of health care, spending rises with household income. 
• The number of human health care providers (physicians) and pet health care providers (veterinarians) soared between 1996 and 2013—a 40 percent increase in physicians and a near doubling in veterinarians.
• At the end of life, spending spikes for both pets and humans.

These similarities suggest, say the researchers, that the rapidly rising cost of human health care may have less to do with health insurance and government involvement (as some theorize) and more to do with "deeper primitives"—such as our desire to keep alive those we love, regardless of the cost.

Source: National Bureau of Economic Research, Is American Pet Health Care (Also) Uniquely Inefficient?, Working Paper 22669 ($5)

Households with Pets in Austin, Baltimore, Boston...

The 2013 American Housing Survey includes a set of questions about household emergency preparedness. Some of the questions are about pets—whether households have pets and whether they would need help evacuating or sheltering pets during an emergency. Overall, 48 percent of households have pets, and a substantial 27 percent of pet-owning households say they would need help evacuating or sheltering their pets in case of an emergency.

The pet questions and hundreds of others—ranging from housing tenure to type of structure and year built, property taxes and insurance costs, underwater homeowners, sidewalks or bike lanes in neighborhood, and relationship with neighbors—are available for the nation as a whole and for 25 metropolitan areas. The metros included in the 2013 survey are: Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Hartford, Houston, Jacksonville, Las Vegas, Louisville, Miami, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Nashville, New York City, Northern New Jersey, Oklahoma City, Orlando, Philadelphia, Richmond, Rochester, San Antonio, Seattle, Tampa-St. Petersburg, Tucson, and Washington, DC.

Source: Census Bureau, Metropolitan Summary Tables - AHS 2013

Toy Story

Percent who plan on purchasing toys as gifts this holiday season...

Parents: 82%
Pet owners: 52%

Source: Harris Interactive, Anticipated Holiday Spending Remains Consistent Compared to Last Year

Pets vs. Babies

Percent change in average household spending, 2006 to 2012 (in 2012 dollars)...

Pet food: +29%
Pet supplies: +116%

Baby food: -35%
Baby clothes: -42%

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditure Surveys

BLS Examines Spending on Pets

The average American household devotes more than $500 a year to pets, or 1 percent of its expenditures, according to an analysis by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's more than the average household spends on alcohol or landline phones.

In its analysis, the BLS looks at pet spending from 2007 through 2011 and by a variety of demographic characteristics. The biggest spenders on pets are empty-nest couples: married couples without children at home spent an average of $698 on pets in 2011, and householders aged 55 to 64 spent $636.

Rabies in Dogs and Cats

Number of rabies cases reported in 2009 (latest data available) in the United States...

Dogs: 81
Cats: 300

Source: CDC, The Burden of Rabies

Taking Your Pet to Work

Ten percent of pet owners have taken their pet to work. Young adults are most likely to do so, with 18 percent of millennials (aged 18 to 35) either occasionally or frequently taking their pet to work.

Source: Harris Interactive, Pets Aren't Just Animals: They are Members of the Family

How Much Would You Spend?

How much would you spend to save your pet's life? That's the question Consumer Reports asked in a survey of subscribers. Focusing on their oldest pet (with an average age of 9), this is what they said...

Dog owners: $1,824
Cat owners: $1,309

Source: Consumer Reports, How We Dote on Dogs (and Cats), October 2012

Pet Ownership is Down

Pet ownership fell slightly over the past five years, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association's 2012 U.S. Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebook, to be released this fall. A smaller percentage of households owned dogs or cats in 2011 than in 2006, due in part to belt-tightening during the Great Recession.

The latest survey results show 36.5 percent of households owning dogs (1.6 on average) and 30.4 percent owning cats (2.1 on average) in 2011. The AVMA reports that spending on veterinary care for dogs increased 19 percent between 2006 and 2011, while remaining flat for cats. My analysis of spending trends from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Expenditure Survey shows average household spending on veterinary care rising sharply between 2006 and 2009, after adjusting for inflation, then plunging 32 percent between 2009 and 2010.

Pet Spending Decline Has Begun

A recent AP article noted that boomers will be less likely to own pets as they get older, which could lead to a decline in spending on pets. In fact, the decline has already begun. The average household spent $480 on pets in 2010, down from $552 in 2009--a 13 percent decline, after adjusting for inflation.

Households cut their spending on every pet category, including food (down 4 percent), supplies and medicines (also down 4 percent), and services (down 12 percent). Average household spending on veterinary service fell the most, a 32 percent decline in just one year.

Pet ownership costs have grown enormously in the past decade as the medical and pharmaceutical industries made inroads into pet care. Average household spending on pets more than doubled between 2000 and 2009. Consumers are tapped out.

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditure Surveys

Vet Bills

Eighty percent of the nation's pet owners took their pet to the veterinarian in the past year. Those who did spent a median of $250 on vet bills.

Source: AP-GfK, The AP-Petside.com Poll

Presents for Pets

Among American pet owners, 51 percent plan to buy their pet a present for the holidays. They estimate they will spend an average of $46 on gifts for their pet.

Source: AP-Petside.com Poll

How Many Dogs?

Number of pets in the United States...

Dogs: 72 million (in 37% of households)

Cats: 82 million (in 32% of households)

Birds: 11 million (in 4% of households)

Horses: 7 million (in 2% of households)

Source: American Veterinary Medical Association