Celebrated on March 20th every year, International Day of Happiness inspires, mobilizes and advances the global happiness movement. Every year, a new theme binds people from across the world. This year, Happier Together, aims to aid people in focusing on what we have in common, rather than what divides us. Unlike their predecessors, millennials value memories or self-indulgence as the top most factors when determining happiness. This is the reason why 76 per cent of millennials say that they would rather spend on experiences than on material things.
Millennials are a generation who ‘live in the now’ and ‘live their best’, and many live by the ‘treat yourself’ mentality. Millennials place self-care in high regard. More millennials have been reported to making personal improvement commitments than any other generation before. They spend twice as much as boomers on self-care essentials such as workout regimes, diet plans, life coaching, therapy and aims to improve their overall well-being. This is Leisure Consciousness for them...
Millennials are increasingly breaking away from conformed traditions and indulging in Leisure Consciousness because of three main factors - shift towards nuclear families, increase in the purchasing power and the high penetration of internet.
As of 2017, supplemented nuclear families make 16% of Indian households. The tendency to live in smaller clusters across the country have allowed millennials to lead more flexible lives and allocate whatever time they want towards their own leisure.
Therising income of millennials (approximately USD 2,400) combined with their eagerness to move to higher paying jobs (83% millennials switching jobs for a pay hike) has definitely allowed millennials to spend on themselves.
Today, millennials have a relative advantage and they are liberated from the stringent work/family axis. They have found a way to prioritise their own leisure. Consumers are now conscious of the importance of leisure in leading a happy life and are ready to make room in their budget for it.
The increase in income has allowed millennials to indulge in what makes them happy. Around 25 per cent spend more than Rs 1,20,000 in order to travel, almost half of young Indians spend between Rs 500 and Rs 2,500 on clothes each month, and 16% women and 14 per cent men spend at least Rs 3,000 or more on a date.
Leading a balanced lifestyle is the key to Leisure Consciousness for millennials, and this is critical to their overall happiness. This is the reason increasingly leverage their financial resources for it as well. Thus, the personal loan space saw a substantial growth last year to Rs 19,085 billion from Rs 9,924 billion in 2017.
An estimated 86% millennials treat themselves at least once in a month to non-essential purchases (one which gives them instant gratification). Form of self-indulgence like a holiday or buying a gadget are some of the things that appear to bring a plethora of millennials joy. About 62% of millennials go on a vacation anytime between two to five times in a year. Another 10% travel six to ten times, in a combination of shorter breaks to domestic destinations and longer international holidays. They use loyalty programs and take up personal loans from fin-tech companies to finance their trips. To make sure that their holiday aspirations are fulfilled, millennials opt for travel loans, which eventually account for 12% to 20% of their total lending portfolio.
One of the crucial aspects for this can be attributed to the fact that millennials are a tech-savvy generation. The growing internet penetration is empowering every consumer with a community that supports the belief in the development of the ‘whole self’, is another driver of Leisure Consciousness.
When millennials see their friends showing off their new gadgets or apparels/holidays online, they want to follow suit. In fact, 63% of millennials agree that social media has encouraged them to spend on themselves. One of the biggest motivators for millennials in making purchases that lead them to happiness is the growth and reach of social media.
Internet penetration at the end of 2015 was around 33% or 400 million users. By 2020, the number is said to reach 790 million. Millennials spend roughly 17 hours a week on the internet and often take the help of the digital medium to make purchases and stay informed about their buying decisions.
While Leisure Consciousnes is not the exclusive route to happiness, the horizons for where people traditionally searched for happiness have expanded from the options available to them in the past. Today, individuals are more in control and more responsible for their own joy and what better day than the International Day of Happiness to acknowledge this transition?
Authored by Gaurav Chopra, Founder and CEO, IndiaLends
