Meet the Lockdown Generation

We know the global lockdown is having a profound impact on young people. No school, no sports, no clubs, no live music, no bar scene… and while all of us feel the pinch, for young people it’s a whole new level of “not normal.” But how are they really doing? And how are they spending their time?

We finally have some hard data on how the lockdown has impacted the lives of young people, including their daily habits and media consumption, according to Belinda Beeftink in Mediatel. Beeftink is the research director for IPA, which just released its Touchpoint data results.

“TouchPoints data is collected via a diary app and a self-completion questionnaire. The reference to time spent on anything in this article refers to the average time spent by people participating in the activity on those days,” she explains.

Overall young people between the ages of 15 and 24 are spending more time alone, and more time doing housework and hobbies, food prep and cooking. They are also spending more time with magazines, both in print and online.

“Magazine reading (in print or online) has increased reach from 22% to 27%,” Beeftink notes. “Time spent reading has also increased from 44 minutes a day to 56 minutes a day.”

“So lockdown has given 15–24s some new opportunities, more time to relax, more time spent with family members, and more time to devote to hobbies and exercise,” she continues. “Overall their mood states seem to be more positive and life seems to be less stressful under lockdown.”

This makes the prospects for publishers looking to reach that market more positive too and gives us all new ways to think about how we engage this dynamic and important audience.