Keeping Track: spending on hobbies
Consumers spent $23 billion on hobbies in the US last year, according to a study by the Hobby Industry Association. Much of those sales fell under the general-craft category, which includes activities such as candlemaking, scrapbooking, and cake decorating. More than half of all US households participate in some craft or hobby.
The most popular activities, in descending order: cross stitching, home-decor painting, cake decorating, crocheting, and scrapbooking/memory crafts. The study found that craft participants were more likely to be married with children, more educated, and in higher income brackets than noncrafters.
