Older generations love to mock and critique new generations for their laziness, but is that mocking really deserved?
No matter how we look at things, every generation is lazy.
The real question is which is the laziest one?
The eternal debate about which generation is the laziest is about to be settled once and for all. This time we are using statistics instead of opinions from others.
In order to be as precise as possible, we have looked at many different categories like employment rate, college enrollment rate, and time spent on social media.
Physical Laziness Among Generations
Physical laziness is correlated to the employment rate of young adults.
We are going to compare each generation using statistics provided by authoritative organizations.
This way we can make precise estimations and give a definitive answer about which generation is the laziest.
So, let’s begin.
Labor Participation Rate (Generational Graph)
The labor participation rate is the biggest indicator of laziness.
Logically, if you are lazy then you are less likely to look for a job. This is why we can make a connection between the labor participation rate and laziness among generations.
So, let’s look at the graph.
As we can see from the graph, the labor participation rate drastically decreases over time.
Instead of being lazy at home and waste their time doing nothing, previous generations were a lot more interested in finding a job and be more productive.
In order to understand this better, I have created a more simple graph that shows the average rate of participation for each generation.
Here’s what the stats show from the U.S Bureau Of Labor Statistics
According to the statistics, the most active generation were the boomers with 71,5% LPR, followed by Generation X with 70% LPR, and on the bottom of the list are Millennials with 60% LPR.
But the labor participation rate is only one part of the equation.
In order to get the full picture about which generation is the laziest, we have to take into consideration intellectual laziness.
This involves looking into statistics like college enrollment rate and time spent on social media.
Intellectual Laziness Among Generations
As we previously mentioned, physical laziness is only one part of the equation.
In order to give a final answer about which generation is the laziest, we have to take into consideration intellectual laziness.
We will use the college enrollment rate and time spent on social media as an indicator of intellectual laziness.
So, lets begin.
College enrollment rate as an indicator of intellectual laziness
Statistics show that the interest for college enrollment is steadily rising.
Here’s some of the data we found from Education data about this topic:
The college enrollment rate as an indicator of intellectual laziness shows that Baby Boomers are on the bottom of the list with 4.5% CER, next on the list is Generation X with 5.8% CER, on top of the list, are Millennials with 6.1% CER.
Apart from the college enrollment rate, we can also look at the time spent on social media between generations.
Time Spent On Social Media Among Generations
It’s really surprising to see that Baby boomers are being active on social media almost as much as generation X.
Now, it’s really not that surprising to see Millennials on the number one spot on this graph, but the differences are enormous.
Millennials are by far the most active on social media with a total time of 170 minutes, next on the list is Generation X with 111 minutes, and last but not least are Baby Boomers with 103 minutes.
Overall, Which Generation Is The Laziest?
After taking into consideration every indicator of laziness, we can certainly say that Millennials are the laziest generation, Generation X is in the middle, and Baby boomers are the least lazy ones.
The rise of distractions and commodities took their toll on the community, especially on younger generations.
Laziness is a serious problem that needs to be addressed and not undermined.