Does the tendency for "quiet quitting" differ across generations? Evidence from the UK

Hamilton, Odessa, Jolles, Daniel ORCID: 0000-0003-1277-0793 and Lordan, Grace ORCID: 0000-0001-9081-6254 (2025) Does the tendency for "quiet quitting" differ across generations? Evidence from the UK. Frontiers in Behavioral Economics, 4. ISSN 2813-5296

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Abstract

Introduction: The post-COVID-19 phenomenon of “quiet quitting” could be problematic for UK economic growth because unpaid overtime has been a key contributor to business productivity since the 2008 global financial crisis. Here, we explore the extent to which this phenomenon exists in the UK, and whether the tendency for quiet quitting differs across generations. Methods: We analyzed data from the UK Quarterly Labor Force Survey (QLFS) between 2007 and 2022 to determine changes in hours worked. Quiet quitting was characterized by notable declines in hours worked between 2019 and 2022, benchmarked against 20072018 trajectories. Analyses were demarcated by four commonly defined generational cohorts (i.e., Generation Z [GenZs; 1997–2004], Generation Y [Millennials; 1981–1996], Generation X [GenXers; 1965–1980], and Baby Boomers [1952–1964]). Results: Overall, we found that the UK workforce reduced hours by ~28 h per year in the pandemic and post-pandemic periods. Hours lost was most notable in 2022, with hours down by ~36 h. However, in assessing generational differences, quiet quitting was most pronounced in the two younger cohorts. GenZs showed the steepest decline in hours worked, while Millennials worked the least number of hours overall, with no indication of recovery by the end of the study period. Hours declined for GenXers and Baby Boomers, but changes were more moderate, and Baby Boomers showed evidence of a possible rebound to pre-pandemic levels. Discussion: Given the ~24,568 million UK full-time workers in 2022, our findings equate to over 55 million discretionary hours lost to the labor market per year between 2019 and 2022, 48.1% of which is accounted for by Millennials. Thus, we evidence that quiet quitting has interrupted the recovery of working hours in the UK to pre-pandemic levels, and lost hours are especially attributable to younger cohorts. JEL: J24 J01.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2025 The Author(s)
Divisions:	The Inclusion Initiative
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
JEL classification:	J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J2 - Time Allocation, Work Behavior, and Employment Determination and Creation; Human Capital; Retirement > J24 - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J0 - General > J01 - Labor Economics: General
Date Deposited:	14 Nov 2025 14:42
Last Modified:	19 Dec 2025 17:21
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/130222

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