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Millennials vs. GenX

Differences in the Prevalence 

of Vice Expenditures:

Arcenis Rojas

Economist

Division of Consumer Expenditure Surveys

2019 Conference of the American Council on 

Consumer Interests

Date
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Overview

 Introduction

 Literature Review

 Data description

 Exploratory Analysis

 Models Including Family Type

 Conclusions
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Introduction

 Differences in the prevalence of expenditures 

between Millennials and Gen X’ers

Alcohol – At and away from home

Gambling – Pari-mutuel wagers

Tobacco – Cigarettes, cigars, other tobacco

 Prevalence rather than expenditure because 

we’re interested in behavior and cannot 

determine quantity

$500 can buy 1 really nice bottle of wine or a few 

cases of cheap wine
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Literature Review: Alcohol

 “Longitudinal Patterns and Predictors of 

Alcohol Consumption in the United States”

Moore, et al.

American Journal of Public Health – March 2005

 Significant predictors: Age, Male (+), White 

(+), Unmarried (+), Education (+), Income (+), 

Smoking (+)

 Cohort effect: Age * Birth Year Interaction (+)
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Literature Review: Gambling

 “Assessing Self-Reported Expenditures on 

Gambling”

Volberg, et al.

Managerial and Decision Economics, Vol. 22, 2001

 Significant Predictors: Male (+), Black (+), 

Under 65 (+), Unmarried (+), Income (-)

 Literature focuses on “problem gambling”
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Literature Review: Tobacco

 “Health Equity in Tobacco Prevention and 

Control”

Centers for Disease Control & Prevention – 2015

 Significant Predictors: Age (+), Education (-), 

Income (-), Geographic region, Occupation, 

Race, Male (+)

 Education found to be one of the strongest 

predictors in other papers 
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Data Description

 Sample size: 67,165 between 2004 and 2017

Each interview is treated as a separate 

observation.

 Sample includes households with reference 

persons age 21 & over

 Sample limited to ages 24 to 37

Age range that overlaps across Millennials and 

Gen X’ers
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Data Description

 Generation X: 1961 <= Birth Year < 1981

Sample Size: 40,000

 Millennials 1981 <= Birth Year < 1997

Sample Size: 27, 165

 Breakdown by family composition

Single Person: 19,428

Married Couple Only: 8,776

Married Couple with Children: 29,690

Single Parent: 9,271
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Exploratory Analysis
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Regression: Alcohol

(Intercept)

-0.15 

(0.463)

Age

-0.093 **

(0.029)

Millennial

-0.405 ***

(0.122)

Age Sq.

0.002 ***

(0)

Single Consumer

0.515 ***

(0.014)

One Parent

-0.036 .

(0.019)

Married Couple Only

0.327 ***

(0.016)

Male

0.132 ***

(0.011)

Black

-0.37 ***

(0.017)

Asian or Pacific Islander

-0.534 ***

(0.022)

Other

0.042 

(0.036)
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Regression: Alcohol

HS Grad

0.199 ***

(0.023)

Some College / Associate's

0.437 ***

(0.021)

Bachelor's or higher

0.707 ***

(0.022)

Income Before Tax

0 ***

(0)

Tobacco Use

0.46 ***

(0.014)

Age:Millennial

0.027 ***

(0.004)
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Regression: Gambling

(Intercept)

-3.465 ***

(0.663)

Age

0.104 *

(0.042)

Millennial

0.21 

(0.177)

Age Sq.

-0.001 *

(0.001)

Single Consumer

-0.005 

(0.019)

One Parent

-0.133 ***

(0.026)

Married Couple Only

0.08 ***

(0.023)

Black

-0.003 

(0.024)

Asian or Pacific Islander

-0.139 ***

(0.033)

Other

0.122 **

(0.047)
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Regression: Gambling

Income Before Tax

0 

(0)

Alcohol Use

0.324 ***

(0.016)

Tobacco Use

0.344 ***

(0.017)

Age:Millennial

-0.013 *

(0.006)
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Regression: Tobacco

(Intercept)

0.254 

(0.515)

Age

-0.054 .

(0.032)

Millennial

-0.8 ***

(0.136)

Age Sq.

0.001 

(0.001)

Single Consumer

-0.031 .

(0.016)

One Parent

-0.029 

(0.019)

Married Couple Only

-0.01 

(0.02)

HS Grad

0.136 ***

(0.021)

Some College / Associate's

-0.033 

(0.021)

Bachelor's or higher

-0.547 ***

(0.024)

Male

-0.036 **

(0.014)
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Regression: Tobacco

West

-0.25 ***

(0.016)

Midwest

0.043 **

(0.015)

Northeast

-0.076 ***

(0.018)

Urban

0.108 ***

(0.023)

Rural

0.367 ***

(0.024)

Income Before Tax

0 ***

(0)

Administrative suport, technical, sales

0.114 ***

(0.017)

Service

0.071 ***

(0.02)

Operator, assembler, laborer

0.229 ***

(0.025)

Precision production, craft, repair

0.244 ***

(0.029)
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Regression: Tobacco

Unemployed

0.114 .

(0.062)

Farming, forestry, fishing

-0.228 ***

(0.067)

Armed forces

0.162 ***

(0.046)

Missing Occupation

0.066 **

(0.021)

tot_alcohol_dum

0.472 ***

(0.013)

Age:Millennial

0.02 ***

(0.004)
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Conclusions

 Demographic characteristics explain a lot of 

the variance in prevalence of alcohol and 

tobacco expenditures, but not as much of 

gambling expenditures.

Also true across generations

 Family composition only explains variance in 

prevalence of vice expenditures in very 

specific cross-sections.
Contact Information

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Arcenis Rojas

Economist

Division of Consumer Expenditure Surveys

www.bls.gov/cex

202-691-6884

Rojas.arcenis@bls.gov