Friday, September 23, 2022

Why younger generations are growing up sober in Western countries

Good news! Quite a contrast to the early 2000s! 

However, the article does not go into whether younger people use other substances instead, e.g. the better and often legalized availability of cannabis in many Western countries.

"Experimenting with alcohol – and drinking to excess – has long been seen as a rite of passage into adulthood, at least in Western cultures. From an early age, often before the legal age, alcohol is embraced as a social lubricant, a way to have fun, make friends and escape day-to-day realities. Few professional or social events are without some form of alcohol.  
But Gen Zers are taking it slow as they enter adulthood, either by not drinking at all, or drinking less often and in less quantity than older generations. The UK’s largest recent study of drinking behaviours showed in 2019, 16-to-25-year-olds were the most likely to be teetotal, with 26% not drinking, compared to the least likely generation (55-to-74-year-olds), 15% of whom didn’t drink. ...
The decline in youth drinking, according to experts, is remarkable and widespread in most high-income European countries, as well as the US, Australia and New Zealand. During lockdown, Gen Z Australians were most likely to have decreased their alcohol consumption, with 44% reporting they were drinking less – more than double the rate for any other generation. Rates of binge drinking among New Zealand’s young people have also dropped by more than half between 2001 and 2012, and have continued to drop since. ...
For example, concern about losing control and developing a drinking addiction is markedly heightened among young people. ...
When researching in the early 2000s, amid an era of heavy alcohol and party drug use, Pennay remembers young people discussing hedonistic abandon and their wish to switch off by “getting obliterated and having a good time”. It’s the opposite now ..."

Why Gen Zers are growing up sober curious - BBC Worklife A complex combination of outside pressures and information overload is driving young people to snub alcohol, far more than generations before them.

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