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.

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[–] 14 points 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. Iike chocolate more than alcohol. I like biking more than alcohol. I like everything more than alcohol.

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    [–] 40 points 3 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

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  • [–] 5 points 2 days ago

    Weed is the new alcohol.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 days ago

    we're old and dont give a duck

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  • [–] 75 points 4 days ago* (6 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.

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

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  • [–] 60 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.

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  • [–] 11 points 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.

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    [–] 5 points 3 days ago

    Those are the people that were already drinking

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  • [–] 21 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!

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  • [–] 30 points 4 days ago (1 child)

    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.

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  • [–] 37 points 4 days ago (16 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.

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    [–] 6 points 3 days ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 child)

    Their body, their choice. Sure hope that's okay with prohibitionists who want to rape their way of life on the rest of us.

    Dont worry. When humanity wins the war on drugs, sober people will not be persecuted, incarcerated and forced to do drugs.

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    [–] 16 points 4 days ago* (30 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.

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  • [–] 12 points 3 days ago (1 child)

    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.

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  • [–] 8 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?

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    [–] 47 points 4 days ago (14 children)

    My wife and I (Gen-X), stopped drinking altogether about two or three years ago. She identified that it was becoming a problem for her since the huge increase during COVID lockdown. I quit for moral support.

    My cousin definitely ramped up since COVID, but even he has now cut down to one celebratory "survived the week" Friday night cocktail.

    With all that said, my white gen-x friends are drinking like it's sophomore year greek week, every week. Except they can hold their liquor now. The amount of bottle in the recycling bin is absurd.

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    [–] 21 points 4 days ago (1 child)

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

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    [–] 4 points 3 days ago (2 children)

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

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  • [–] 28 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.

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    [–] 3 points 3 days ago (3 children)

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

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