Lego, Gaming and Football Stickers - 60% Of Adults Happily Reliving Their Youth

A study of 1,200 Brits aged 25-44 found that just one in five describe themselves as a ‘saver.’ Only half those questioned have saved up sufficiently to get on the property ladder, or put in for a pension

“Big kids” prefer to spend their free time going to gigs and festivals, playing video games, even building elaborate LEGO sets – with children firmly out of reach.

Top activities adults feel they don’t want to let go of include:

• Going to gigs and festivals
• Gaming
• Collecting – from comics and Star Wars figures to football stickers
• Playing board games
• Constructing LEGO (without the kids)
• Rock Pooling
• Enjoying superhero films
• Theme parks

A surprising 88% of ‘reluctant adults’ also admit to only listening to music they grew up with. The study also revealed that 90% also enjoy trying new activities or experiences, like playing guitar or learning how to play a new musical instrument.

Adult Fans of Lego: It takes guts to admit you’re a total AFOL... #LEGOMasters pic.twitter.com/YINEeNC6vm

— Channel 4 (@Channel4) August 30, 2017

Nearly nine in 10 respondents say they do more exciting and varied things than their parents did at the same age.

Others include taking up a new sport, dance lessons, or even obstacle course races.

A spokesman for Absolute Radio, which carried out the research, said: “We’ve seen lots of stories about people growing up later, and holding onto their youth as long as possible.

“People are tending to get married and have children later, which allows them to continue with childhood hobbies much longer.

“There’s no telling whether this is a good or bad thing, but it does mean people can be late to start thinking about their finances in a serious way.”

It comes as manufacturers and retailers are noticing a sharp rise in adults buying games, toys and puzzles for themselves. Out of every £9 of toy spending, £1 is spent by adults, research by analysts NPD has found.

Toy spending by adults, for adults, is on the up by 8% year-on-year, increasing by an incredible £30m since 2016. Grandparents too are still having a child-like enthusiasm for games.

Train sets, radio-controlled vehicles and racing circuits like Scalextric still top their spending list.

With that, marketing experts believe we are witnessing the birth of “kidults.”