Hurrah for the Gen Z youngsters who are taking up drinking
A new survey from IWSR, a market research company, suggests that Generation Z, those born between 1997 and 2012, aren't as alcohol-phobic as first thought. It suggests that young people weren't abstaining because they're glued to their phones, obsessed with their physical health or worried about making fools of themselves on social media. It's for the good old-fashioned reason of not being able to afford a pint or a G&T down the pub.
The problem is that wages have not kept pace with prices. When I first moved to London in 2000, a pint was £2.50 and my first proper job as an assistant at a publisher paid £17,500. I spent most of my twenties in the Golden Heart in Commercial Street rather than in my cramped flat.
Today, a similar job will pay £28,000 or less, but it's rare to find a pint under £6. No wonder younger people aren't drinking or going out as we used to, especially as so many places close early to save on energy and staffing costs.
Now, as more youngsters come into the workplace and inflation is levelling off, it seems that they have belatedly discovered, just as their ancestors did, the joys of alcohol. Too bloody right. Your twenties are a great time to spend in a boozy haze, making friends, falling into romantic entanglements and not worrying about the future.
Perhaps youngsters will give up their apps and return to dating the traditional way: by snogging someone in a bar after a few too many Bacardi Breezers. If you're not boozing during that time, what's the point of being young?
The survey showed that 76 per cent of British Gen Zedsters have drunk alcohol in the past six months compared with 66 per cent two years ago. For comparison, it's 79 per cent for my generation. It turns out we aren't so different after all. This is a pattern that is repeated all over the world.
Richard Halstead, the head of consumer insights at IWSR, explained: 'The idea that Gen Z drinkers are somehow fundamentally different from other age groups isn't supported by the evidence. For instance, we know that beverage alcohol consumption correlates with disposable income, and Gen Z came of age during a cost-of-living crisis.'
For years the drinks industry, faced with falling demand, has pushed for premiumisation – in other words, getting the remaining drinkers to pay more for their booze. Combined with that, many have moved into zero-alcohol drinks like Diageo did with Seedlip – essentially charging through the nose for soft drinks.
But if the results of this survey are anything to go by, the main problem with getting young people into pubs or bars isn't some generational crisis; it's affordability.
Get the price right and they will come, as Tim Martin has long known. My local Wetherspoons is packed with youngsters on the weekend. Maybe the kids are alright after all.
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