# Millennials are playing their way through adulthood

> Adults are spending big on blind boxes, claw machines and childhood toys, calling it self-care in a grind-weary generation.
- Title: Millennials are playing their way through adulthood · Fortune
- Summary: Adults are spending big on blind boxes, claw machines and childhood toys, calling it self-care in a grind-weary generation. A Harris Poll survey finds eighty…
- Keywords: millennials, blind boxes, claw machines, kidulting, harris poll, self-care, nostalgia, toy industry, consumer spending, gen z, playing, way
- Source: Fortune — https://fortune.com/2026/10/20/millennials-kidulting-harris-poll-nostalgia-blind-box-arcade-claw
- Author: Nick Lichtenberg
- Read time: 3 min
- Topics: millennials, blind boxes, claw machines, kidulting, harris poll, self-care, nostalgia, toy industry, consumer spending, gen z
## The blind box economy explained
Blind boxes are small, affordable mystery purchases that work like claw machines scaled to a generation. They sell gambles on joy wrapped in childhood characters.
## Harris Poll measures the trend
A Harris Poll survey of two thousand one hundred fifty-eight U.S. adults conducted June twenty-fifth to twenty-seventh found eighty percent bought something playful for themselves in the past year.
## Millennials spend heavily on play
Among millennials who bought something playful, ninety-two percent spent money on it and seventy-eight percent spent one hundred dollars or more. Fifty-seven percent of Gen Z and millennials bought blind boxes.
## The psychological draw
Libby Rodney, chief strategy officer at The Harris Poll, said blind boxes have the same psychological draw as slot machines. It is a fun, physical lotto ticket you can play with and display.

> It's got the same kind of psychological draw as a slot machine. It's like a fun, physical lotto ticket that you can buy and then play with and then display.
## Older millennials lead hobby spending
Older millennials, born between nineteen seventy-eight and nineteen eighty-eight, spend more per customer on hobbies than any other generation. They spent a little more than twice what Gen Z did per customer.
## Paradox of the busiest generation
Americans ages thirty-five to forty-four average about four hours and fifteen minutes of leisure a day, the lowest of any age group. Yet they spend more on hobbies than anyone else.
## Nostalgia drives the market
Among millennials, eighty-seven percent feel more emotionally connected to brands that tap into childhood memories. Eighty-six percent appreciate adult versions of things they loved as kids.
## Collecting is mainstream now
A Harris survey for printing company Quad found sixty-eight percent of Americans collect at least one type of physical item. The top reason was nostalgia, cited by forty-six percent.
## Toy industry rebuilt for adults
Adult-only households accounted for fifty-five percent of U.S.toy sales in the first half of twenty twenty-six, growing sixteen percent through June.Hasbro's Wizards of the Coast reported Magic topped six hundred million dollars in quarterly revenue.
## Kidulting as self-care
Fifty-two percent of Americans call kidulting one of their main forms of self-care.Sixty-six percent of Gen Z and millennials say the same.Half said they would rather buy blind boxes than talk to a therapist.
## Backlash against hustle culture
Eighty-three percent of Americans agree that in uncertain times, small moments of joy feel more important than ever. Seventy-four percent say play makes them feel more hopeful when the world feels heavy.
## Physical items over digital ones
Eighty-four percent of Americans said owning physical items feels more satisfying than owning digital ones. Eighty percent are drawn to real-world experiences that do not revolve around screens.
## Stigma around adult play fades
Adults playing with toys used to be a punchline, as in The forty-year-old virgin from two thousand five.Now kidulting is mainstream and cool.
## Housing crisis fuels the shift
The median first-time homebuyer in the U.S. is now forty, the oldest on record. Fifty-one percent of millennials told Harris they would rather spend on kidult things than save money for housing.
## Key takeaway

A Harris Poll survey finds eighty percent of U.S. adults bought something playful for themselves in the past year, with millennials spending heavily on blind boxes and arcade games as a form of self-care.