The pace of life has changed drastically, impacting each individual’s life. Nowadays, many young people do not have any hobbies. The main reason for this is that, due to inflation, younger generations have to devote more time to work and building careers. Unfortunately, in the long run it might lead to a decrease in innovations.
Having a hobby was always a luxury available only for those who could afford it. In the beginning of the twentieth century, the economy bloomed globally. People were able to work less and earn more. Baby boomers are the ones who were the luckiest. Today’s situation is significantly different. For instance, I will have to work five years as a senior engineer to afford an apartment, while my mother had to work only a year to buy a house at the beginning of her career.
As a result, modern generations have less time and money for their hobbies. While we do not see any noticeable effects right now, in the long run humanity may face a crisis of innovations. Having a hobby or a couple of them helps people to see outside the box and be more creative. The history of the last two centuries shows it well. It is obvious that we had noticeably more technological breakthroughs when people were most prosperous.
Taking everything into account, it is evident that the modern economy has a powerful impact on how people spend their time. If nothing changes, we might face stagnation of innovations in the nearest future. To avoid it, humanity will have to make massive changes in the economy to let people be prosperous and creative again.