The last generation of regular alcohol drinkers in Britain

[ergophobe]

is those over 40. Drinking alcohol among the under 40s has collapsed.
https://www.dailymail.com/health/article-16087047/The-generation-drinking-booze-new-data-shows-just-one-8-40s-heavy-drinkers.html

One anecodotal think I've noticed. When we opened our vacation rental in 2010, a friend who helped us with the final details stayed in a place that left a bottle of wine as a gift. He thought it was really nice and we should do it. And we have. People liked it. Most people drank it. Some just took it home.

Now, in our 17th summer season, I notice that the bottle often just sits there collecting dust. I think the current bottle is at least three weeks old. That happens a lot. It was exceedingly rare in 2010.

[rcjordan]

>regular alcohol drinkers in Britain

Plenty of articles this year with pub owners wailing & gnashing teeth. UK pub culture definitely seems to be on the ropes. There have been a few legislative proposals to try and prop it up,  but this is not just a UK issue as you've seen with your complimentary wine.

[ergophobe]

> pub owners

And vintners. Lots of articles like this too.

Burning Their Vineyards: California Wine's Painful Reset
https://www.falstaff.com/nordics/news/california-wine-faces-a-painful-reset

[littleman]

I have been reading about how the younger generation isn't drinking much in the USA either, but from what I am seeing with my 21 y.o.'s friends at UCB the drinking culture is very much alive and much worse than my group of friends at the same age.  One of her friends that also went to the same high school as her ended up in the emergency room and had his stomach pumped. Anecdotal, but I don't think the trend is universal.

[Travoli]

>drinking culture is very much alive and much worse

Interesting. Almost none of my 25-35 friends drink.

[ergophobe]

> UCB


There is certainly room for both a decline and still a lot of people who binge drink.

In the 1980s, about 20% were heavy drinkers and about 3/4 were at least monthly drinkers.

2023 (most recent numbers I found quickly), it was down to about half who were at least monthly drinkers and 7% who were heavy drinkers though the definitions vary slightly.

https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/63243
https://www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov/statistics/prevalence

This page has some really interesting charts for grades 8, 10 ,12
https://www.responsibility.org/alcohol-statistics/underage-drinking-statistics/

Takeway: it is way down, but still 22% of 12th graders said they had had alcohol in the past month. But that's down from 54% in 1991.

I do wonder if there is some cultural bias in the self-reporting too. Like maybe in 1991 people thought it was uncool to admit they had not had any alcohol whereas now there is not a stigma.