Top Lifestyle Trends to Watch for in 2020

11:17 10 October 2019

As we say goodbye to 2019, there are all sorts of popular lifestyle choices on the horizon. Some are truly new while others are re-worked versions of previous "hot trends" that are making a second or third appearance. They're all likely to be popular for at least a year. After that, the lifestyle trends that are destined to be long-term winners might stick around for a decade or more. Here are the current candidates for "trend of the year" in 2020:

Telecommuting

About 10 percent of U.S. workers now have the option to work at least part of the week from home. For mid-level managers on up, that number currently stands at about 50 percent. In the insurance industry, for example, working a few days per week from home is now the norm. Just 20 years ago, fewer than 1 percent of all workers "telecommuted."

Now that something like 93 percent of all U.S. households are wired for high-speed Internet and high-quality video transmission, working from home is one of the fastest-growing lifestyle trends. Writers, doctors, technicians, engineers, lawyers, consultants and accountants can go years without ever having to see a client in person. The financial sector is leading the way in telecommuting. One reason the trend is so powerful is that it has the backing of employers and large corporations.

Eco-Travel

Environmentally-conscious travel is one of the newer lifestyle trends but also one of the fastest-growing ones. People of all income levels and backgrounds are opting to cut down on the use of air travel, and are choosing to spend their vacation time volunteering to help the needy. So-called "green travel," or "eco-travel" is all the rage among the 25-36-year-old age set, most of whom were raised with the prospect of climate change as a threat to human betterment. But the trend is not confined to young people, some seniors, for example, opt to sell whole life insurance policy rights to companies that buy them for cash. That's just one way of financing a week- or month-long eco-vacation.

De-Cluttering

The "simple life" philosophy has been gaining converts for nearly two decades, culminating in a rafter of books and how-to videos in the past couple of years. There are seminars, classes and entire sub-cultures build around the concept, with no end in sight. What is the idea all about? De-cluttering means getting rid of anything you don't need. One common way to decide is to throw out, or sell, any item you have not used in the past year. A popular book on the subject recommends going through your home and tossing about half of all the stuff you have in storage, or selling it in a yard sale. It's actually just a new, more regimented take on a very old concept.

Vegetarianism and Veganism

The "meatless" lifestyle has come and gone for generations, but really took hold in the 1920s. Since then, vegetarianism and veganism cycled in and out of popularity until about 2010, when they became permanent fixtures of the healthy-eating set. Some experts predict that meatless eating will finally break through and affect one-third of all consumers by 2030.