In our culture, where we are constantly connected to technology, activities like playing Xbox, browsing social media, and Snapchatting with friends raise the attractiveness of leisure time. And so it goes that if leisure time is more enjoyable, and as prices for these technologies continue to drop, people may be less willing to work at any given wage. This explanation may help us understand why we see steep declines in employment while wages remain steady – a trend that has been puzzling economists.
Right now, I’m gathering facts about the possible mechanisms at play, beginning with a hard look at time-use by young men with less than a four-year degree. In the 2000s, employment rates for this group dropped sharply – more than in any other group. We have determined that, in general, they are not going back to school or switching careers, so what are they doing with their time? The hours that they are not working have been replaced almost one for one with leisure time. Seventy-five percent of this new leisure time falls into one category: video games. The average low-skilled, unemployed man in this group plays video games an average of 12, and sometimes upwards of 30 hours per week.
Pointer from Tyler Cowen.
Back in the 1980s, during the Macro Wars, Franco Modigliani taunted freshwater economists with the line, “Was the Great Depression an outbreak of laziness?”
As a commenter on MR pointed out, 12 hours a week isn’t necessarily a whole lot (particularly if it’s a substitute for TV viewing). It’s certainly possible to hold a full-time job and still spend that much time on a hobby.
In fact, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, that 12 hours a week is actually less than the average married father who is employed full time spends on watching television: http://www.bls.gov/tus/tables/a6_0913.htm
I am actually surprised and encouraged by how little time unemployed and undereducated men spend on video games.