Is staging a heist in “Grand Theft Auto V” more interesting to men in their 20s than working an actual job? Are more playing “Call of Duty” than trying to find their actual calling? That’s the argument made by a new report from the nonprofit National Bureau of Economic Research.
The report from the nonprofit research organization found that increases in the amount of time spent on video games by younger men over the last two decades correlate strongly with a decline in hours that they are working, a drop not found among other groups in the workforce.
“Our estimates suggest that technology growth for computer and gaming leisure can explain as much as three-quarters of that 4 percent greater decline (in work hours) for younger men. We estimate that improved computer and gaming technology also explains a small decline in market work for younger women, but had no impact for older men and women,” the report said.
The bureau notes that between 2000 and 2015 a number of hours worked by men aged 20 to 30 years old fell by 203 hours per year compared with just 163 hours for men ages 31-55 over the same period. The older group’s employment rates also improved more after the 2008 financial crisis. A common assumption for that is that the older workers’ experience puts them more in demand. The report notes, however, that wages earned by men in their 20s have risen with older men, suggesting that lack of demand for their labor isn’t a factor. It further notes that younger men are less likely to be married and have children, factors that spur other groups back into the labor force more quickly.
Over the period, younger men devoted any increase in their available free time exclusively toward “recreational computer time,” with most of that time going toward playing video games. Other leisure activities such as watching television or movies, participating in social media, web surfing, playing sports or socializing with friends, barely budged.
“As of 2015, men between the ages of 21 and 30 allocated 5.2 hours per week to recreational computer activities, 3.4 hours going specifically to video gaming. For younger men recreational computer time increased by 45 percent during the 2004-2015 period, while total leisure time increased by only 4 percent,” the study found. Much of the increase can be attributed to “a sizable improvement in technology for computer and video gaming” as well as a drop in the prices for both.
This could become a persistent issue with younger workers, the report argues, since many of them are viewing that time playing games as an important personal activity. “Innovations to computer and gaming leisure may have dynamic effects on labor supply. It is possible that individuals develop a habit (or addiction) for such activities. Certainly, individuals build ‘leisure capital’ in the form of physical equipment, but especially human skills, that enhances enjoyment from gaming,” the report found. That, in turn, could result in those workers responding to “negative shocks” to employment by devoting more time to these leisure activities and less time to finding ways to re-enter the workforce.
The report was authored by economists Mark Aguiar, Mark Bils, Kerwin Kofi Charles and Erik Hurst. Charles and Hurst are with the University of Chicago, Bils with the University of Rochester and Aguiar is with Princeton.
