A fresh study links the recent boom in retail investing with a sense of hopelessness among men in their late teens and twenties. On August 5, 2026, the Institute for Family Studies, a research group that advocates marriage, released the report after polling 2,000 men ages 18 to 29.
One-quarter of those men said they trade stocks daily. Almost two-thirds, or 64%, said they view themselves as failures. The questionnaire covered a broad range of the young men's habits and self-perceptions.
Men who placed bets every day reported nearly identical levels of despair. For the 23% of respondents who placed daily wagers on sports, events, or other outcomes, 66% said they felt the same way.
The Link Between Habit, Struggle, and Demoralization
The IFS researchers theorized that behaviors like trading stocks, betting, daily fantasy contests, and viewing pornography might serve as ways to handle distress, anxiety, and isolation. Young men's difficulties have increasingly worried scholars, commentators, and wealthy business leaders. The concern is that young men are falling behind in school and work, endangering their finances through sports and event wagers, and struggling emotionally.
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According to the report, risky choices like intraday stock trades and event bets have become a route for young men to seek profits and hit financial targets when conventional milestones are unaffordable.
The Blurring Line Between Investing and Gambling
Meanwhile, the boundary separating investing from gambling has become less clear. Retail stock trading volume has doubled in 15 years, while options activity by day traders hit unprecedented levels. Robinhood Markets Inc. and Interactive Brokers Group are now courting Gen Z by adding event contracts beside ordinary stock trading.
Studies indicate that younger investors have adopted speculative strategies in pursuit of profits because buying a home and other traditional milestones seem unattainable. In a Northwestern Mutual survey, Gen Z participants admitted to buying or at least weighing stocks, options, digital assets, and prediction contracts, saying they felt behind and viewed such bets as the most promising way to catch up.
The report comes as retail trading has surged. Taken together, the report shows that daily trading, gambling, fantasy sports, and pornography use are all correlated with feelings of failure among young men. The authors write that such habits may be both responses to sadness, pressure, and isolation and part of the reason economic security stays distant.
Alongside stock trading and betting, the questionnaire asked about daily fantasy sports and pornography. There too, less-frequent users were about half as likely to say they felt like failures.
What It Means for Investors
The survey adds evidence that the retail-trading boom is not purely a sign of financial optimism. The doubling of retail stock-trading volume, the record options activity, and the rise of event contracts suggest many young men are using markets to chase milestones that have moved out of reach. The IFS report does not claim to prove cause and effect, but the authors say the patterns point to behavior that can both soothe and reinforce feelings of failure. That context could matter for financial firms designing products, guidance, and guardrails for this generation.
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