NEW YORK – Seems as if we can’t escape the ongoing breakfast war among QSRs and other fast-food players such as McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks, which is probably why TIME magazine is probing how breakfast has become the most coveted daypart. 

“Why does it seem like breakfast has become the most important meal of the day among fast-food competitors? Why is it that the traditional marquee battlegrounds, lunch and dinner, seem to have taken a step back in terms of fast food priorities?” writes TIME.

The magazine continues that the answer lies in that fact that among QSRs and other fast-food types, sales for the lunch and dinner dayparts have remained flat during the post-recession era, “while breakfast sales have climbed steadily — up 4.8% annually from 2007 to 2012.”

Breakfast has also become the “anomaly” for QSRs because people don’t have time to make breakfast before they head out the door. Not only are folks time-starved, there’s also the “Egg McMuffin-unemployment connection,” writes TIME, that shows “a correlation between fast food breakfast sales and the jobs market.”

The theory is that more consumers will hit the drive-thru in the morning when they have jobs to drive to. And when they’re unemployed, there’s less reason for them to get out of bed, “let alone feel compelled (or financially able) to fork over cash for a prepared morning meal,” notes TIME.

If all eyes are on breakfast, where does that leave lunch and dinner?