When was the last time you had a drink? It was most likely at the weekend, given that it was a bank holiday Sunday night was probably a boozy one for you – am I right? Or perhaps your part of the population turning away from drink on a regular basis and decided to have a quiet one? Official figures have been released from the Office for National Statistics, and according to them drinking alcohol is at the lowest level it’s ever been on record.
According to the study, 56.9% of people aged 16 and over had a drink in the week before the interview, this has fallen from 64.2% back in 2005. 21% of us are not drinking at all, and most drinking much less than normal. So, what’s happened? Have we all decided the hangover isn’t worth it? It’s too expensive, or are we all just too concerned with our health?
For me personally, drinking on the regular is something I choose not to do. My hangovers (I have one right now) are unbearable. To the point where I normally can’t get out of bed, even after a few glasses of wine, and the day becomes a complete right off. I’ve also become more conscious of my health, like the rest of the world. We all know sober is the new drunk and exercising is the new clubbing, and I, like many, have got the health and fitness trend bug, hard. Drinking just isn’t something that fits as easily into my life, currently – because I know I’ll spend the next day feeling guilty, overly anxious and won’t end up going for that run I had planned.
According to the statistics, men and women aged 45-64 are much more likely to binge drink than any other age group across the whole population. It found that those in managerial or professional jobs are more likely to drink five times a week or more. It seems like Baby Boomers and Generation X, the Ab Fab generation, are still living a supposedly stress free life where hungover panic attacks don’t exist. Whereas us millennials are either too poor, or too stressed to pick up a drink.
Student Sally, 20, told me she used to take up every opportunity to go out drinking - which would sometimes be up to 4-5 times a week. Her habits changed when she experienced crippling anxiety in the following days after a night out. Binge drinking, poor sleeping habits and student life were all attributed to the way she felt, both mentally and health wise. Since she’s cut back, not only has her mood improved, but she feels content with how her weekends are spent. Rather than hungover, she’s more productive and no longer wastes days.
She’s not alone in this feeling – a quick poll on
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b046kr4j) but the pressure of being able to buy a house or hold down a secure job is still strong.
Money also plays a huge part in how much we drink. Living in London, and other expensive cities means going to the pub often means shedding out £6 for a 125ml glass of the house red, a luxury most of us can't afford on the regular. London based HR and Training Administrator, Hannah, 24, told me that she initially stopped drinking for superficial reasons. She had moved to London and started drinking more regularly, which in turn made her gain weight. By cutting back, she started to feel better and starting saving money. Drinking less has meant over the past year she’s been able to pay off her overdraft, start paying off her credit card, and recently she has been able to start saving again. While this may not be from just drinking less, saving the pennies that would have been spent on wine means Hannah, among others, feels more in control of her money, something most of us struggle with month after month.
You can look at this study two ways. One, millennials are ‘boring.’ We drink less, go out less and that means we’re having less fun, right? Or two, we’re being smarter. Smarter with our money, smarter with our health and generally smarter with our wellbeing. You know the drill, alcohol is linked to over 60 illnesses and diseases, including liver disease and cancer so drinking less will always be a positive thing.
Have you cut back on drinking? If so, why, and what effects (positive, or negative) have you felt? Let us know in the thread on
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.