It’s no secret that the rest of the world sees the UK as a nation with a drink and drug problem.
While this stereotype might have had some basis in the truth during bygone decades, today it holds less water.
What’s changed is the number of people embracing sober living. While it might be a youth-led movement, there’s evidence that it spans generations. So what’s causing this trend, and how is it being catalysed?
Young, Smart, and Sober
Almost a third of Gen Z Brits are non-drinkers. For Baby Boomers, that proportion is around 15%.
Millennials and Gen X are more sober-curious than their older counterparts as well. There are a few factors behind this move away from inebriation. First, there’s the economic pressure. Young people in particular are facing the reality of inflation and its knock-on effects on all living costs, leaving them with less disposable income. Coupled with the fact that the average cost of a pint is around £5, and closer to £7 in London, the pure maths of a booze-fuelled night out just don’t work for many.
Then there’s a changing taste for social activities. Even as recently as the mid-2000s, people had to socialise in person, usually by going to the pub or club. Now, the rise of social media, video streaming and other digital forms of interaction and entertainment make it possible to live a full, friend-focused life in contexts where drink and drugs simply aren’t an expected part of the experience.
Lastly, there’s the slow build of health and fitness as a focus for people across every generation.
Campaigns like Dry January have helped drive home the message that rethinking our relationship with sobriety is good for us for many reasons.
The Overlooked Issues
While alcohol might have fallen out of favour with many in the UK, there are still controlled substances that people use to let loose.
Most notable in recent years is the explosion in ketamine’s popularity, with the under-25s found to have more than doubled their use of this drug in the past decade, according to ONS figures. This has led to campaigners calling for it to be shifted into the more serious Class A category, and to a rise in services that help people detox from ketamine due to an increase in hospital admissions associated with the substance.
It could even be argued that the apparent rise in sober living is actually a misinterpretation of the data. Just like when ecstasy rose to prominence in the 1990s and caused alcohol sales at clubs to collapse, we could be seeing ketamine’s popularity pushing more people away from booze as their party substance of choice.
What Next for the Wellbeing Generation?
It’s impossible to say whether the increased interest in sobriety is here to stay or just a fad. Past trends suggest there’s a cycle to this type of phenomenon, so it’s unlikely that the UK will go cold turkey from drink and drugs en masse. Keep an eye on the data, and the picture should become clearer.