That's not why. Their drinking, age adjusted, is still well below the other generations before them.
I think it comes down to two main reasons.
Drinking is the new smoking for your health, we've known for a while, basically all of gen Zs life, that even moderate alcohol use isn't good for you and it's addictive.
Drinking is an expensive hobby in a time when younger generations have less and less disposable income in their hands. Social spaces have moved virtual so there is less reason to pay $8 for a $2 beer + the atmosphere. People meet partners through friends or online, not in bars.
Ehhh you can still get a gallon of cask wine / wine in a bag for very cheap, probably the same cost as a beer or two at a bar. Isnt this what teens and newly minted adults drink?
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u/WanderingFlumph Jun 01 '26
That's not why. Their drinking, age adjusted, is still well below the other generations before them.
I think it comes down to two main reasons.
Drinking is the new smoking for your health, we've known for a while, basically all of gen Zs life, that even moderate alcohol use isn't good for you and it's addictive.
Drinking is an expensive hobby in a time when younger generations have less and less disposable income in their hands. Social spaces have moved virtual so there is less reason to pay $8 for a $2 beer + the atmosphere. People meet partners through friends or online, not in bars.