Gen-Z teens are drinking less alcohol than their parents did, but a new report suggests some of the reasons behind that shift may not be so healthy.
According to data from the Monitoring the Future, a study of American behaviours, beliefs, and habits from the University of Michigan, the decline in drinking among the younger generation began in the late 1990s before accelerating in the early 2010s.
MTF found that just 41% of 12th graders in 2024 had drunk alcohol in the past 12 months compared to 75% in 1997, with similar gaps reflect in the numbers for the 10th and 8th graders.
Gen Z researcher and author of The Up and Up newsletter Rachel Janfaza told Axios there are three main reasons for increased sobriety; changes in social life, body optimization culture and economic pressure.
“The way we socialize post-Covid is just really different,” Janfaza said, adding that the rise in social media meant there is a “a perfect storm for a change in how we hang out.”
Young people who grew up during Covid lockdowns found their social lives limited to their families just when they should have been developing alongside their peers. Janfaza believes this made them used to hanging out online and cultivating a comfort zone on social media platforms instead of in person.
Alcohol use, however, is often tied to social experiences like going out to bars.
Also exacerbated by social media, Janfaza says body optimization and a culture of “looksmaxxing” are hitting both young men and women. The hype around GLP-1s like Wegovy and Mounjaro have brought back a skinny culture briefly-threatened by talk of “body positivity”.
As a result, young people are less keen to down calorific drinks like beer or cocktails full of sugar.
Economic pressures and soaring costs are also a factor in a drop in consumption.
Janfaza sums up Gen Z as a generation of late bloomers: “It’s not just that they’re drinking less, they’re having less sex, they’re getting their licenses later.”
Even before the pandemic, Janfaza says young people would tell her their generation’s freedom, flexibility and childhood felt “a bit more rigid.” She says parents should work to alleviate what’s stressing their kids out, and encouraging them to see friends face-to-face.
Families must grasp “how it might mentally affect their children to live in a world where it feels like someone is always watching, and they’re constantly meant to be turning out a version of themselves that is the best online presence possible,” she added.
The trend towards youth sobriety is reflected in other substances tracked by Monitoring the Future, with marijuana use down to 26% for 12th graders – the lowest over 30 years. Nicotine vaping was also down, recorded as 21% among 12th graders in 2024 compared to 35% in 2020.
The pattern is also reflected among Americans adults, just 54% said they had the occasional drink in 2025, whereas 60% reported the same between 1997 and 2023.
