My wife and I (Gen-X), stopped drinking altogether about two or three years ago. She identified that it was becoming a problem for her since the huge increase during COVID lockdown. I quit for moral support.

My cousin definitely ramped up since COVID, but even he has now cut down to one celebratory "survived the week" Friday night cocktail.

With all that said, my white gen-x friends are drinking like it's sophomore year greek week, every week. Except they can hold their liquor now. The amount of bottle in the recycling bin is absurd.

We're hitting the age where we realised we've got another forty fucking years of this instead of dying at fifty like we hoped

Not mentioned in the article: 20- and 30-somethings are broke, and a night out is crazy expensive now. Plus legal weed is waaaay cheaper than alcohol.

Nobody is lining up for the $14 six pack at the grocery store. I'm not exaggerating, I've even cut back simply because I can't justify the cost. I'm not paying a %50 increase for the same beer I bought six years ago.

Im an Xer who rarely drinks in adult life but I can say that I have been wanting to drink more since about 2016 and much more since 2024.

I had a close family member die of alcoholism not long before COVID, so I know it's in my genes. I'd say it's more tempting now than before because of the incredible chaos at work, but I have kids so my life isn't about me anymore.

One of my Gen-X friends was telling me how he started drinking more during COVID.

He said one day the supermarket cashier remarked “oh hey, are you throwing a party?”

And he said “nope, this is just my personal weekly alcohol consumption.”

Awkward!

Hah, not this genx. 51 on dialysis for kidney failutre (fuck fascism) so I took my habit of hardly drinking down to no drinking.

I’m in my early 40s and with rising costs of everything I just can’t justify my monthly six-pack anymore. I wonder if they controlled for that?

Maybe younger generations had less traumatic childhoods? As a millennial I drink pretty frequently and am generally high

As a millennial I'm tired and I think many millennials and younger GenXers feel the same. We've had to live what seems like multiple generations within our lifetime. We went from like 3 channel tv to cable tv to satellite tv to streaming tv. we went from dial up phones to cell phones to smart phones. we went from having no computer, to a computer, to a laptop, tablet, and screens on everything. we went from no internet to dial up to cable to wifi. We went from being told that we need to learn this and that in school or we won't get a job. that we needed to learn all this maths cause we'll never have a calculator in our pocket to carry around. having to write cursive cause thats how we'll always write in the future. that we MUST go to college in order to get a job to suddenly it no longer matters and we're in debt up to our eyeballs.

We had to teach our parents all this crap and now we also have to teach the younger generations the same stuff too.

We went from everyone we know having a house by the time they were our age to now we have to keep paying rent or live with roommates.

We're tired, let us have a drink.

The bars around me charge nearly $20 for a mid drink like vadka redbull or a rum and coke. Fuck the bars. Fuck everything they stand for.

Effect meet cause.

I swear to god both of my non-drinking kids make me want to drink more.

I quit drinking last year at 33 years old next month is one year. I didn't do it because I had a drinking problem, I was drinking one pint of beer a week, if that and a six pack would last a month, if I even bought a six pack at that point.

It was just like all it did was make me angry, tired or an ass to be around and it was becoming a waste and I didn't feel like it was doing anything for me and it was a fucking waste after a while.

I did have a few thoughts of I could take or leave it when I was depressed a few times and those were the worst because that means I was considering drinking more because I felt like shit and then I was like fuck this shit.

.......

.... Plus empty carbs and ngl, I like root beer more than alcoholic beer. I like coffee more than alcohol. I like weed more than alcohol. I Iike chocolate more than alcohol. I like biking more than alcohol. I like everything more than alcohol.

I'm 60 and never started drinking. I saw very early my older brother fall into the trap. I learned from his mistake.

My parents didn't drink or smoke, etc. I followed their example. I don't know why my siblings didn't.

Til a new word : imbibing - means drinking a liquid or, often informally, consuming alcoholic beverages.

I think we were always a generation of drinkers

I virtually quit drinking in 2018. Went six years with out a drink of any alcohol. Lately I drink a few in social situations but not very often.

Those are the people that were already drinking

Weed is the new alcohol.

MDMA has always been better value. Now even more so.

every generation pickles itself when the life gets rough. it makes it a smidge more tolerable

Stop framing it around desire to drink, it's wealth ffs!

Their body, their choice. Sure hope that's okay with prohibitionists who want to rape their way of life on the rest of us.

Dont worry. When humanity wins the war on drugs, sober people will not be persecuted, incarcerated and forced to do drugs.

Gen-X is drinking more? When did we drink less? :)

Well, let their liver receive the penance of their vote for Orange Palpatine.

Uh…. I guess I’m in the minority. 39 and drinking a box of wine (4 bottles) in a weekend with my partner and their other drinks may be involved + a gummy.