Millennials Are Bored By Alcohol, Prefer Sobriety
In an episode of The Idea File by The Atlantic writer Amanda Mull delves into the changing attitudes of Millennials towards alcohol.
The writer has found that Millennials’ attitude towards alcohol has changed to wanting to reduce use, or not even start.
She conducts the analysis through seeking opinions via twitter. While she argues this has not led to an actual decrease in consumption, IOGT International has reported that millennials are actually preferring alcohol-free lifestyles more and more.
Millennial reasons for sobriety
Some of the main factors shared by millennials on why they prefer to stay free from alcohol are:
- Alcohol use makes them sick;
- Alcohol use is expensive; and
- Alcohol use hinders taking responsibility in life.
Several factors for millennials’ disinterest in alcohol are discussed by the writer. Millennials are a changing generation, they are less likely to have a family, home and live in suburbs than their parents, so their habits are also different. Another factor is they are less well-off economically than their parents were at similar ages, making alcohol use an expensive behavior they do not want to engage in.
One major positive of the millennial attitudinal change is that the alcohol norm is also changing. For example, the alcohol-free bar ‘Get away’ is a popular spot for alcohol-free youth to socialize. What’s even better is that the change in the norm started by millennials is being continued to the Gen Z who are using the least amount of alcohol for their age in history. One of the possible reasons for this shift as discussed is the years of public health campaigns.