I started buying more shit once I was strapped down with family responsibilities.
When I had little responsibilities going for a weeklong hike and camp or whatever is liberating and costs almost nothing so can save a lot. With a shrieking toddler you'll be very lucky if they tolerate something like that for 2 miles and a few hours, so the unhappiness of being unable to fulfill your goals gets replaced by some meager slivers of efficiency from material goods and home-based hobbies that cost money in the form of the rent to house the hobby if nothing else.
I wonder how much of this is "I can no longer do the shit that I really enjoy for free, so I'm at least going to buy a nice lobster to eat in the 15 minutes I have before the next meltdown of the toddler or caretaking of the elderly parent."
Same thing happened to me. Since becoming a parent I've gotten back into video games like I was when I was a kid/teenager. Before I had my first kid we didn't even have a TV now there are 3 in my house. I also read a lot more books as well.
It's much harder to just spontaneously go out and do stuff with friends. Even when the kids have been put to bed and are asleep you can't just leave the house so I end doing things at home like playing games.
I've definitely had my share two mile hikes that end in whining and complaints but as they get older (6 and 3 now) it's gotten better and more activities open up
For me it was opposite. Having kid meant that most games became unplayable, because they are not designed to be played for 2 hours once a week when I happen to have time. They are designed to waste you huge amount of time.
You've just described what has been happening to me since becoming a parent. Suddenly consumer electronics matter to me because I'm stuck in the house a lot more. I regret my purchases. But if you can only watch movies in the house then a good TV and sound bar are nice.
Alternatively people buy more stuff and are then financially stressed, making them less happy.
The article doesn't really provide anything other that correlation, it doesn't show a causative link in either direction. It does however do that classic of providing just enough to fill people's preconceived notions (because the lack of causative link means that you can easily place your own personal causation).
