Wow, I don’t spend nearly this amount on alcohol
Can anyone explain why?
Submitted 17 hours ago by Mickey7@lemmy.world to [deleted]
https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/af67a321-b96f-440a-9bbb-a6fef4ceb282.png
Comments
panda_abyss@lemmy.ca 17 hours ago
mbp@lemmy.sdf.org 15 hours ago
Those are rookie numbers. Gotta push em up
Hossenfeffer@feddit.uk 14 hours ago
Don’t worry, I’m bringing the average back up again.
DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world 16 hours ago
“Fading”, more like jumped off a cliff.
There is no safe amount of alcohol to drink.
Everyone is broke.
They watched their parents make asses of themselves while drunk, and today everyone has a video camera in their hand.
exasperation@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 hours ago
On July 1, 2024, the census estimates of the number of each generation of drinking age, if I’m reading this Excel spreadsheet correctly:
Gen Z (born between 1997 and 2012, but as of 2024 the only legal drinking age was those born between 1997 and 2003): 31.3 million
Millennial (born between 1981 and 1996): 74.1 million
Gen X (born between 1965 and 1980): 65.6 million
Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964): 66.9 million
So assuming that 20-somethings have less money to spend on expensive alcohol, and recognizing that Gen Z has less than half the drinking age population as the other generations, it’s not surprising for that generation to spend less on alcohol, even if their habits weren’t different than the older generations.
Now, their habits actually are different, so that might stretch things further. But a better way to present the data would be adjusted per capita. And maybe looking at historical data about when prior generations were the same age.
terraborra@lemmy.nz 17 hours ago
Because they’re weak.
In all seriousness, income has stayed about the same in nominal terms, but the cost of living has gone way up even between millennials and gen z. So really income has gone down and booze is much more of a luxury.
galaxy_nova@lemmy.world 17 hours ago
There’s part of it but also anecdotally a lot of us are aware that alcohol in pretty much any quality has negative effects and therefore don’t drink at all. There’s a lot less pressure to drink than in expect there was for other generations, it’s pretty normal for me to meet other people who prefer not to drink.
mkwt@lemmy.world 16 hours ago
alcohol in pretty much any quality has negative effects
The key is that this guidance came out somewhere between millennial and gen z coming of age.
When I was a child the TV news would run “health” stories about how moderate amounts of red wine are good for you. It turned out those studies were funded by the alcohol industry.
Hapankaali@lemmy.world 16 hours ago
Drug use, and especially problematic drug use, has low price elasticity and the US is a relatively high-income country. The cost of living is almost certainly a negligible factor in the decline of alcohol consumption.
Although most of the gains have gone to top earners, US real median household income has trended slightly upwards over time and is not “way [down].”
Moreover, high-income European countries where even fewer people are budget-constrained when it comes to drug use have also seen dramatic declines in alcohol consumption.
Kolanaki@pawb.social 8 hours ago
Gen Z hasn’t been 21 or older for as long.
clav64@lemmy.world 14 hours ago
Other drugs are cheaper, and readily available.
kungen@feddit.nu 12 hours ago
Stimulants like Adderall and Xanax are often misused to cope with academic and social pressures.
I never knew benzodiazepines were stimulants.
chuckleslord@lemmy.world 9 hours ago
They’re not? But they do help with the anxiety of academic and social pressures
Tobsn@thelemmy.club 13 hours ago
And often less harmfull than alcohol
CompactFlax@discuss.tchncs.de 17 hours ago
Normalize it for age. How much did GenX spend at 22 vs GenZ?
There’s a big drop off in drinking overall and it’s a good thing. Yet genZ is back on nicotine.
riskable@programming.dev 16 hours ago
Wait until you see Gen Alpha’s spending on alcohol!
ALoafOfBread@lemmy.ml 16 hours ago
Yeah, I know some Gen Z college kids, and I will attest they definitely spend significant money on alcohol. And cigarettes.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the vice money is just split between alcohol, cigarettes, weed, vape carts, and adderall.
kungen@feddit.nu 12 hours ago
Is illicit Adderall in the US “real”? Or are they usually pressed fakes?
I never understood why speed is/was so uncommon when I was in the US a long time ago. I was offered basically everything there, but never normal speed (without methamphetamine in it) like in Europe.
expatriado@lemmy.world 17 hours ago
lol this thread don’t realizing is a shitpost, half of gen z have not make it to 21 years old and this data could be years old
bfg9k@lemmy.world 8 hours ago
Have you seen the price of a beer now? Each night at the pub ends up being $100+
BioDriver@lemmy.world 7 hours ago
This needs to be per capita, not total
billwashere@lemmy.world 4 hours ago
It’s because they can barely pay rent.
angstylittlecatboy@reddthat.com 15 hours ago
We’re less social, drinks in public spaces have gotten too expensive, weed
hperrin@lemmy.ca 16 hours ago
I would assume it’s because most of them are still children.
zaphod@sopuli.xyz 17 hours ago
Is Gen Z even allowed to drink yet?
toddestan@lemmy.world 4 hours ago
I’ve seen the line drawn a few different places, but generally Gen Z starts at around 1996-1998 or so. In any case, the oldest Gen Z have been drinking age for a while.
CarbonIceDragon@pawb.social 16 hours ago
At least some of us are, yes. Im generally considered gen Z and ive been legally allowed to drink for years
BananaChips@lemmy.zip 14 hours ago
The last gen z are nearly finished with high school. The oldest gen alpha kids are in high school. We’re a year into gen beta being born.
Lucky_777@lemmy.world 16 hours ago
Millennial here. Pressure was there to drink when growing up. College everyone was boozing. You were weird if you didn’t booze.
Times are different now and the pressure is off. I think this will be huge, plus weed is a way better vice. Hangover is basically zero, no long term effects with heavy use, and generally a fun time.
Rather debate the moon’s creation than drag Becky out to the car again and hope she doesn’t puke in my car.
homes@piefed.world 16 hours ago
I suspect that smoking weed has replaced a lot of drinking for much of GenZ.
JoMiran@lemmy.ml 15 hours ago
I know this is a shitpost but I’ve noticed that since the covid lockdown, a lot of my Gen-X friends and colleagues have quit drinking. Not a majority, but enough for me to notice. Has anyone else noticed a drop in alcohol consumption within your social circles?
Ledivin@lemmy.world 13 hours ago
I’ve seen the opposite, and when I got my physical my doctor definitely supported that everyone has been drinking a lot more than previous. I’d say my use ticked down during lockdown but up afterwards 🤷♂️
surewhynotlem@lemmy.world 14 hours ago
I stopped drinking when covid hit. Turns out I was a social drinker, and I never got back on the wagon.
ShadowZone@lemmy.world 13 hours ago
GenXer here. I started drinking due to social pressure almost 30 years ago. I basically completely stopped already before covid. My wife is the same. On occasion one or two drinks when going out, but we don’t have anything at home. My cousin (similar age) and her husband went completely dry.
I think it’s more of an awareness of the health risks (also huge “don’t drink and drive” campaigns when I was reaching drinking age), add to that if we’re honest it doesn’t really taste that good, enduring a hangover is nothing to look forward to and also (at least in my case) I am fed up with how our society still looks weird at people that just don’t want to drink. Screw everyone who asks two or three times if someone says they want a non-alcoholic beverage or, even worse, makes stupid jokes, mostly to feel better about their own addiction.
Sorry got a bit heated at the end. My son recently reached legal drinking age, does not want to drink and is being pressured by peers to start drinking. Luckily he is mentally strong enough to tell them to go suck a duck.
Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 12 hours ago
Now hang on a second there. We gotta get one thing straight!
…did the duck consent to being sucked?
TheGiantKorean@lemmy.today 16 hours ago
Cocktails are $20 a pop. Hell, mocktails are like $15 a pop and they don’t contain alcohol.
troed@fedia.io 17 hours ago
Internet and games. Stay inside sober and have fun - including chatting with possible partners - instead of going out drinking trying to get laid.
/GenX who did the drinking variant. Gen Z has it better.
VaalaVasaVarde@sopuli.xyz 17 hours ago
Gen Z spent it all on avocado toast, so they’ll have to make due with Olde English “800”
Lucky_777@lemmy.world 16 hours ago
Two hands, taped to each. A wild night for sure
DrFistington@lemmy.world 16 hours ago
This is just because they don’t get paid enough to afford it in the first place, so it never develops as a habit.
MissJinx@lemmy.world 16 hours ago
Because they have no money!
Bazell@lemmy.zip 16 hours ago
Of course not. Healthcare in the USA is a nightmare.
babyfarmer@lemmy.world 16 hours ago
Considering half of Gen Z isn’t even legal drinking age yet, this isn’t too surprising.
cattywampas@lemmy.world 14 hours ago
Plus with declining birthrates in developed countries there are probably fewer overall Gen Z people than older cohorts. So even if they drank at the same rate you could still expect the absolute amount of alcohol consumption to be lower.
Otiz@sopuli.xyz 15 hours ago
By that logic it should be around 10B by now
turmacar@lemmy.world 13 hours ago
People in their 20s tend to buy well drinks and cheap beer unless they’re independently wealthy “somehow” by that point. Older people tend to have more expensive, or at least more specific, preferences.
Raw spending doesn’t mean much in isolation.
kboos1@lemmy.world 15 hours ago
No because the half that currently can’t drink might drink twice as much