The winds of change are afoot, and it is young people driving the trend. For the first time in living memory, a younger generation is saying no to alcohol.
Neil D’Souza is 22 years old and has never been drunk. “Tipsy maybe, but I wouldn’t say drunk.”
Few things are more Australian than a bevvy or six with a mate or two in a pub, park or over dinner. Drinking is what we do. And, historically, we’ve done a lot of it. “That’s a really difficult question to unpack,” says Dr Amy Pennay, a researcher from La Trobe University, who along with her colleague, Michael Livingstone, noticed a decade ago that young people had been drinking less since the early 2000s.found that the proportion of people in their 20s abstaining from alcohol more than doubled in the 18 years between 2001 and 2019, from 9 per cent to 22 per cent.
It is immediately obvious that the rise of social media is one of the biggest contributors to alcohol abandonment, or at least moderation. It is one clear factor that older generations didn’t have as they went through childhood and adolescence, and may be a key to understanding what’s going on. They are non-judgemental, culturally diverse, sophisticated and sensitive to cultural mores and attitudes that are different to their own. It’s a no-stigma generation, whether it’s about what you do or don’t do, what you eat or drink or what your sexuality or religion is.
Farrell has a theory, completely unsupported by the science, but which he likes anyway: that this generation is reacting to the bad behaviours modelled by older generations. “The week before Christmas 2022 and the week of Christmas were our biggest weeks on record for zero per cent alcohol sales.” By 2019, it was people in their 40s and 50s, aka Generation X, with the highest rate of drinking among those aged over 70.Maddy Sloan, 20, has precisely zero interest in drinking. The 20-year-old arts and law student at Australian National University has never been drunk and has never had more than three drinks in a single sitting.
Philippines Latest News, Philippines Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Why gaming skills are landing young people high-paid jobsParents worry about their kids spending too much time on computer games. What they don’t know is that it might lead to an exciting job.
Read more »
Why gaming skills are landing young people high-paid jobsParents worry about their kids spending too much time on computer games. What they don’t know is that it might lead to an exciting job.
Read more »
Nicola Bulley: MPs criticise police over release of personal detailsLabour’s Stella Creasy among those questioning why Lancashire police told public of ‘issues with alcohol’
Read more »
Why this fundie isn’t tempted by China’s reopening boomWAM’s Nick Healy shares the Aussie stocks in his global fund, why the US is still the best place to invest, and why Volkswagen is undervalued.
Read more »
The bright side of interest rate rises | Fiona KatauskasWhy is everyone always all about ‘recessions’ and ‘ruining lives’?
Read more »
‘Why do families pay more under Labor?’: Liberal Party question a ‘very powerful weapon’Former Victorian Liberal Party president Michael Kroger says a repeated question by the Opposition regarding why families are paying more under Labor is a “very powerful weapon”. “This is the Coalition’s version of ‘doesn’t hold a hose’,” Mr Kroger told Sky News host Rita Panahi. “You think of a strategy, a label, and you just repeat it for 18 months. “The Coalition are absolutely right to run on this line, and it is already starting to bite.”
Read more »