Young people today don’t drink as much alcohol as their millennial, Gen X, and boomer predecessors. The question is: why not? A new editorial from scientists in Australia and Sweden says there are many potential factors in play, but as of now we simply don’t have enough research to know for sure.
It used to be millennials who were blamed for the decline of everything from department stores, to cable TV, to raisins, of all things. But frankly, we’re older now, we’re tired, and – if research is to be believed – we’re not even getting any, so it’s time the heat fell on someone else for a change.
Gen Z, the first generation to grow up surrounded by internet culture and social media, has come of age, and as these young adults have started to take their places in the world, scientists have picked up on some curious trends – one being, they’re consuming less alcohol than their forebears. Introducing a special issue of the journal Drug and Alcohol Review, a group of researchers have laid out what we know – and crucially, what we don’t – about what’s driving them away from drink.
Gen Z have been described as “the sober-curious generation”, but that doesn’t mean they’re all tee-total. Research by Mintel in 2023 found that Gen Zers considered alcohol as more of an “occasional treat” rather than the “regular, relaxing refreshment” it often is for older generations.
In the new editorial, Michael Livingston, from the National Drug Research Institute at Curtin University, and colleagues point to one study that found this decline in alcohol consumption was not spread evenly across the generation: “the decline in drinking has been driven more strongly by boys than girls, leading to a narrowing (or even over-turning) of the gender gap in drinking.”
But while gender may be a contributing factor, personality apparently is not, as another upcoming study found, with declines in alcohol consumption occurring across all major personality trait groupings.
As to the why of it, a number of possibilities have been put forward. One trend suggests that youths may be switching from alcohol and other substances towards cannabis. With more places tentatively moving towards legalization, cannabis consumption may be becoming more socially acceptable. Indeed, data suggests that cannabis use is not in decline among young people.
The Mintel data also shone a light on the fact that the youngest consumers may be more concerned about the emotional impacts of drinking, like the dreaded “hangxiety”, or its lack of nutritional content, instead preferring less calorific soft drink alternatives.
But while drinks manufacturers may be dismayed by the data, it does beg the question: if Gen Z are dodging the booze, are they also managing to dodge some of its negative health consequences?
The data on this is conflicted. One of the studies mentioned in the editorial used Swedish data and found a reduction in alcohol disorders, alcohol poisonings, and other acute harm in line with the reduction in consumption. However, this is in contrast to some other previous work that found the opposite, such as a 2020 study that concluded more young people (both millennials and the oldest Gen Zers) in the US were being hospitalized with alcohol-related liver disease.
“The papers in this issue point to important ongoing avenues of research – more work is needed to understand how harm trends reflect drinking trends, to better assess how illicit drug use fits into the broad story of declining youth drinking and, especially, to fully flesh out the positives and negatives of a decline in youth drinking that appears to be strongly associated with concerns about risk,” the researchers concluded.
“With the changes in youth drinking being so profound, older theories often used to understand youth substance use are likely to be outdated,” they add, stating that a more comprehensive view on this issue will be necessary if we are to help our young people – and the generation coming after – better navigate their changing relationship with alcohol.
The editorial is published in Drug and Alcohol Review.
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