Various data points show an affordability crunch for younger Americans. Although these measures have been challenged, it’s obvious that in popular metro areas, prices have escalated quickly and with political effects. But are these age cohorts at the same time choosing to outspend previous generations on rather optional costs of living?
Many have noted the “$8 lattes” and other to-go beverage buys. Food deliveries are popular among a set that is mostly able-bodied enough to hoof it themselves. And, of course, there are the all-but-compulsory iPhone iterations.
One other obsession is widely evident on American city streets and it falls in the category of “personal care.”
Trade research data suggest that nail salons have burgeoned as a business in recent decades to serve a clientele concentrated in ages 40 and below. The mani/pedi stops (with occasional neck and shoulder massages) continue to foster job opportunities for an immigrant (characteristically Vietnamese) service sector that has grown by a fourth in licensed technicians in two decades, to about 400,000.
The continued increase in receipts–almost doubling from what was already an active field in the early 2000s–is sometimes ascribed to greater concern for sanitary or otherwise healthful applications, or to “busy professionals” needing to wedge in treatments. A more likely explanation is that various social factors, including media sharing, have encouraged a greater consciousness of relatively minor personal cues.
To be sure, the overall hair and beauty business is a long-standing one with visits from all age groups. So, the salon statistics can be squishy when accounting for pre- or post-Millennial consumers. But the best data suggest–not surprisingly–that those in the peak “attraction” ages are the biggest market. (Less often, the young cohort’s quest can also take the form of techniques such as prophylactic Botox injections for skin condition.) Of note, this type of expense is borne by a largely but not exclusively female clientele–indeed, men may account for a quarter of some nail procedures.
The same data sets indicate this habit extends outside the U.S., to much of affluent Asia and Europe, although it apparently is less common in countries such as France, where by reputation a less ostentatious approach to beauty and fashion is practiced. “Flyover” parts of this country seem also to lag behind in mani/pedi demand.
One is left to wonder how previous generations managed an appealing look and upkeep at less outright cost. Perhaps, as with obtaining food, there was more self-service. In any case, should we begrudge a $25 to $70 nails tab every week or two?
Only if, together with all the other routine indulgences of the age, this phenomenon helps to explain why a large and evidently growing portion of the population can’t keep up with rents, loans and other financial facts of life.
Tim W. Ferguson 