Gen Z has been called many things, but their latest nickname might surprise you.
May we introduce you to Generation Sober.
When we asked Australian teenagers aged 15 to 19 about their drinking habits for our Gen Z Wellbeing Check report, 44% told us they never drink, 29% said they only do occasionally, 7% said they only drink monthly, 7% fortnightly, and 8% weekly. Just 4% of Australian teens said they drink some days of the week, 0.4% most days of the week and 0.3% daily.
Of course, we need to consider that those aged 15 to 17 are below the minimum legal drinking age, and how the numbers of those who said they don’t drink drops significantly after turning 18. However, despite that our research shows school-aged teens who don’t drink today are actually in the majority.
An age breakdown found 88% of 15 year olds said they never drink, followed by 68% of 16 year olds, 54% of 17 year olds, 23% of 18 year olds and 21% of 19 year olds. It’s safe to say then that while alcohol uptake goes up significantly once teenagers turn 18, still between a fifth and a quarter of young Australian adults of legal drinking age today don’t drink at all.
And according to a recent study in the UK, Gen Z is far more likely to drink less than previous generations – or, not drink at all.
The study by Drinkaware found that 16-25 year-olds were far more likely to be sober than Millennials, Gen X and Boomers, with 15% saying they have a ‘firm stance’ on avoiding alcohol consumption.
One in four (26%) told the survey they never drink alcohol.
But the stats do suggest a trending rejection of experimenting with alcohol from Australia to England – which was long seen as a rite of passage into adulthood.
So what’s gotten Gen Z all sober-curious?
Some experts attribute financial or societal pressures, but senior research fellow Amy Pennay at the Centre for Alcohol Policy Research at La Trobe University says it’s more likely coming from awareness of the associated physical and mental health risks of consuming (and over-consuming) alcohol.
“(The decrease in alcohol consumption is) certainly not happening because of alcohol policy, because all risky practices are going down — drug use, unprotected sex, risky behaviours (like smoking, crime and driving hazardously),” Pennay said, told the BBC.
Instead, “young people are more risk averse in general.”
But why now?!
Pennay reckons that it comes down to Gen Zs being the world’s first digital natives and unfettered access to the vast amount of information readily available on the internet, and even social media communities like TikTok’s group, #SoberTok.
With so much knowledge literally at their fingertips, Gen Zs just know better.
And that’s something to celebrate… Without a drink of course.
