Boomers Can’t Seem to Embrace This Millennial Sleep Trend

Millennials and boomers disagree on when to get married, how to parent their kids and which sex positions are best. Why, then, would we expect the two generations to be on the same page where sleep is concerned? Spoiler alert: They’re not. But we weren’t certain how the two generations differed, until we found these interesting mattress statistics compiled by Mattress Clarity, a mattress and sleep product review site. Below, four of the biggest takeaways, including the surprising mattress-buying trend boomers just can’t get behind.

Mattress size, that is. In general, millennials are most likely to prioritize price and mattress size over other factors like price or brand reputation. Specifically, Mattress Clarity found that millennials are more likely than boomers to purchase a King or Cali King mattress (33 percent of millennials prefer these mattress sizes compared to 21 percent of boomers).

Ask your local millennial and we’re willing to bet they’ve either bought—or considered buying—a mattress in a box. Over the past few years, boxed mattress brands have popped up left and right, capturing the business of efficiency-obsessed millennials everywhere. Not so much for boomers, though. Mattress Clarity discovered that 70 percent of boomers head to a brick and mortar store when they’re ready for a new mattress.

Like avocado toast and participation trophies (we kid), millennials are all about mattress shopping. In fact, they’re twice as likely to find the shopping process easy and five times more likely than boomers to report that the mattress shopping process was fun.

On average, people between 18 and 35 years old replace their mattress after a mere 5.7 years, according to BedTimes magazine (which, yes, is a real thing). Boomers, on the other hand, typically wait to replace their mattress after an average of 12.3 years. Maybe folks 57 and up really do hate the process…