Are Austrian teenagers the most boring in the world?

Wild parties and rude behaviour typically associated with young people are apparently not to the taste of Austrian youth, who prefer drinking water to alcohol, like to get up early, and are happy to help with housework.

That’s according to the research from event organisers DocLX and market research company Marketagent.com.

“The young adults are no rebel generation, but instead have got used to the system and it’s mechanisms. They are to a great extent satisfied,” explains the study lead and head of Marketagent.com Thomas Schwabl.

To get a picture of a day in the life of a typical young Austrian, researchers surveyed 1,763 people aged between 14 and 29, with more than 70 questions about their daily life.

They found that 70 percent of those surveyed said tap water is their favourite drink, followed by coffee. Fifteen percent had drunk alcohol in the previous day but most preferred to consume alcohol and energy drinks just on a Saturday evening.

The day of an average 14 to 29-year-old begins at 6.30am and 9.30am at the weekend, an early start presumably helped by the absence of a hangover. Almost a quarter said they also like to nap in the afternoon on Saturdays and Sundays.

Around 44 percent help to clean up and wash dishes in the house – although a cheeky third of them do not lift a finger when it comes to housework.

One other finding from the survey also matches the teenage stereotype, with young people in Austrian spending on average only one hour outside in fresh air and more than half the day either sitting or lying motionless. Despite that, 30 percent said they felt exhausted.