this post was submitted on 26 Sep 2026

366 points (98.9% liked)

News

39351 readers

2875 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil

Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.

2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.

Obvious biased sources will be removed at the mods’ discretion. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted separately but not to the post body. Sources may be checked for reliability using Wikipedia, MBFC, AdFontes, GroundNews, etc.

3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.

Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.

4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source. Clickbait titles may be removed.

Posts which titles don’t match the source may be removed. If the site changed their headline, we may ask you to update the post title. Clickbait titles use hyperbolic language and do not accurately describe the article content. When necessary, post titles may be edited, clearly marked with [brackets], but may never be used to editorialize or comment on the content.

5. Only recent news is allowed.

Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.

6. All posts must be news articles.

No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials, videos, press releases, or celebrity gossip will be allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis. Mods may use discretion to pre-approve videos or press releases from highly credible sources that provide unique, newsworthy content not available or possible in another format.

7. No duplicate posts.

If an article has already been posted, it will be removed. Different articles reporting on the same subject are permitted. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.

8. Misinformation is prohibited.

Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.

9. No link shorteners or news aggregators.

All posts must link to original article sources. You may include archival links in the post description. News aggregators such as Yahoo, Google, Hacker News, etc. should be avoided in favor of the original source link. Newswire services such as AP, Reuters, or AFP, are frequently republished and may be shared from other credible sources.

10. Don't copy entire article in your post body

For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 3 years ago

MODERATORS

JonsJava@lemmy.world

gedaliyah@lemmy.world

little_cow@lemmy.world

366

Gen X is drinking more as younger Americans cut back on alcohol, study finds (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 5 days ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

141 comments fedilink hide all child comments

While younger generations are drinking less, adults aged 50 to 64 are drinking more, causing a shift reshaping the US bar scene

Alcohol consumption has decreased across the United States in recent years, particularly among adults under age 40, but there is one older demographic in which more people are drinking than before the Covid-19 pandemic – and more are doing so heavily, according to a new study.

For the first time since before the pandemic, the percentage of US adults who drink any alcohol decreased between 2022 and 2024, according to the report in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine. People from 50 to 64, which roughly corresponds with gen X, were the only age group in which drinking continued to increase.

They are likely hurting their health by imbibing, according to the latest science, but they are also helping keep open bars. Such businesses have struggled as younger generations, the drivers of nightlife, move away from booze.

top 50 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old

[–] Hueristic_Autistic@lemmy.world 14 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (3 children)

I quit drinking last year at 33 years old next month is one year. I didn't do it because I had a drinking problem, I was drinking one pint of beer a week, if that and a six pack would last a month, if I even bought a six pack at that point.

It was just like all it did was make me angry, tired or an ass to be around and it was becoming a waste and I didn't feel like it was doing anything for me and it was a fucking waste after a while.

I did have a few thoughts of I could take or leave it when I was depressed a few times and those were the worst because that means I was considering drinking more because I felt like shit and then I was like fuck this shit.

.......

.... Plus empty carbs and ngl, I like root beer more than alcoholic beer. I like coffee more than alcohol. I like weed more than alcohol. I Iike chocolate more than alcohol. I like biking more than alcohol. I like everything more than alcohol.

load more comments (3 replies)

[–] Taleya@aussie.zone 36 points 4 days ago

We're hitting the age where we realised we've got another forty fucking years of this instead of dying at fifty like we hoped

[–] fireweed@lemmy.world 72 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (5 children)

Not mentioned in the article: 20- and 30-somethings are broke, and a night out is crazy expensive now. Plus legal weed is waaaay cheaper than alcohol.

[–] dreadbeef@lemmy.dbzer0.com 16 points 4 days ago (1 children)

ehhh if you're a PBR enjoyer $12 for a 12-pack is hard to beat. I like my weed, but it ain't $12 cheap yet here

[–] RidgeDweller@sh.itjust.works 16 points 4 days ago

Bummer to hear. $20 a quarter oz here lasts me longer than two twelve packs, so a little more affordable. It's definitely not topshelf weed, but PBR isn't primo either. I'm in cali though where the weed market has collapsed due to oversaturation and over regulation.

load more comments (4 replies)

[–] wewbull@feddit.uk 5 points 3 days ago

Weed is the new alcohol.

[–] Hueristic_Autistic@lemmy.world 8 points 3 days ago

Til a new word : imbibing - means drinking a liquid or, often informally, consuming alcoholic beverages.

[–] rozodru@piefed.world 56 points 4 days ago (8 children)

As a millennial I'm tired and I think many millennials and younger GenXers feel the same. We've had to live what seems like multiple generations within our lifetime. We went from like 3 channel tv to cable tv to satellite tv to streaming tv. we went from dial up phones to cell phones to smart phones. we went from having no computer, to a computer, to a laptop, tablet, and screens on everything. we went from no internet to dial up to cable to wifi. We went from being told that we need to learn this and that in school or we won't get a job. that we needed to learn all this maths cause we'll never have a calculator in our pocket to carry around. having to write cursive cause thats how we'll always write in the future. that we MUST go to college in order to get a job to suddenly it no longer matters and we're in debt up to our eyeballs.

We had to teach our parents all this crap and now we also have to teach the younger generations the same stuff too.

We went from everyone we know having a house by the time they were our age to now we have to keep paying rent or live with roommates.

We're tired, let us have a drink.

[–] a4ng3l@lemmy.world 22 points 4 days ago

I feel you man. Shit has been crazy fast and it’s still accelerating. What a fucking life we have.

[–] Whats_your_reasoning@lemmy.world 10 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

100%

We are a long-traumatized generation in a perpetually-traumatizing world. Even when I'm lying down, I want to lie down.

[–] ScoffingLizard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Yeah, I would not have damaged my body irreparably by sitting and studying through 3 STEM degrees had I known that job security would never come. I should have just worked at gas stations so at least I know jobs were always there, even if the cash was shit. My job pays well, but not worth being told it will be over soon every 5 minutes. I'm over it. So tired.

load more comments (5 replies)

[–] Ajdee6@lemmy.world 5 points 3 days ago

Those are the people that were already drinking

[–] myyass@lemmy.world 37 points 4 days ago (4 children)

Nobody is lining up for the $14 six pack at the grocery store. I'm not exaggerating, I've even cut back simply because I can't justify the cost. I'm not paying a %50 increase for the same beer I bought six years ago.

[–] notgold@aussie.zone 14 points 4 days ago (12 children)

$14 six pack is a bargain here. Most 4 packs are $25 in Australia. Steak night at the pub is strange as your beer costs more than your steak.

load more comments (12 replies)

load more comments (3 replies)

[–] stickyprimer@lemmy.world 20 points 4 days ago

One of my Gen-X friends was telling me how he started drinking more during COVID.

He said one day the supermarket cashier remarked “oh hey, are you throwing a party?”

And he said “nope, this is just my personal weekly alcohol consumption.”

Awkward!

[–] HubertManne@piefed.social 30 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Im an Xer who rarely drinks in adult life but I can say that I have been wanting to drink more since about 2016 and much more since 2024.

[–] CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world 1 points 14 hours ago

Same. I drink just about never. But yeah, I sometimes pine for a pint.

[–] Zacryon@feddit.org 16 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (27 children)

They are likely hurting their health by imbibing, according to the latest science,

This must be emphasized more. The WHO has made a statement that for usual alcoholic beverages no level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health. This happened after carefully analysing a large body of research. Much earlier, alcohol has already been assigned to the highest class of carcinogenic substances, class 1. It sits in the same class as radiation, tobacco and asbestos.

[–] Uranus_Hz@lemmy.zip 11 points 3 days ago (1 children)

As an older GenX I will say that my drinking hasn’t really increased, but it never really decreased from my college level in the first place.

But I don’t want to live to 80, 90 years old anyways.

Kids are grown, lost my wife to cancer 5 years ago. All of our nest egg went into her end of life care so retirement’s not an option. Everything hurts and I have to work until the day I die.

I got maybe 5-10 years left in me. Tops.

[–] Mrkawfee@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago

As a fellow gen x'er, I'm sorry for your loss. Take care of yourself, bro.

[–] Bluescluestoothpaste@sh.itjust.works 17 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Yes they know that they dont care they're not looking forward to a long healthy life.

load more comments (2 replies)

[–] Toga77@lemmy.world 6 points 3 days ago

Just for your information, sitting in the same "class" as tobacco and asbestos doesn't mean what you insinuated here.

Asbestos is orders of magnitudes more carcinogenic than alcohol, don't be alarmist

I have never once in my life lifted an alcoholic drink without that information.

Look, have a drink every now and then. It's fine. Moderation is key, we're not meant to live forever and a life lived for 150 years in a fuckin bubble is silly.

I get it, it's a carcinogen we all know. So is smoke, should I stop enjoying a lovely campfire?

Should I stop leaving my home because someone could kill me?

load more comments (24 replies)

[–] daychilde@lemmy.world 21 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Hah, not this genx. 51 on dialysis for kidney failutre (fuck fascism) so I took my habit of hardly drinking down to no drinking.

load more comments (1 replies)

[–] Tylerdurdon@lemmy.world 27 points 4 days ago (11 children)

I had a close family member die of alcoholism not long before COVID, so I know it's in my genes. I'd say it's more tempting now than before because of the incredible chaos at work, but I have kids so my life isn't about me anymore.

load more comments (11 replies)

[–] heartSagan5@lemmy.zip 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Well, let their liver receive the penance of their vote for Orange Palpatine.

[–] projectsquared@lemmy.world 7 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Pssh. I’m drinking because others voted FOR Orange Palpatine!

load more comments (1 replies)

[–] Klanky@sopuli.xyz 17 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

I’m in my early 40s and with rising costs of everything I just can’t justify my monthly six-pack anymore. I wonder if they controlled for that?

[–] datavoid@sh.itjust.works 17 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Maybe younger generations had less traumatic childhoods? As a millennial I drink pretty frequently and am generally high

load more comments (2 replies)

[–] EchoCranium@lemmy.zip 3 points 3 days ago

Gen-X is drinking more? When did we drink less? :)

[–] Entertainmeonly@lemmy.blahaj.zone 14 points 4 days ago (1 children)

The bars around me charge nearly $20 for a mid drink like vadka redbull or a rum and coke. Fuck the bars. Fuck everything they stand for.

load more comments (1 replies)

[–] Sam_Bass@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago

every generation pickles itself when the life gets rough. it makes it a smidge more tolerable

load more comments