#85. Move Over Gen Z: How Midlife Moderators are Changing the Drinking Game

This week, I'm busting the myth that Gen Z are the only ones changing their relationship with alcohol. 

Inspired by a 70-year-old Irish gentleman named Eamon who told me he recently decided to quit drinking, I explore how my generation—Generation X—along with older Millennials and even Boomers, are quietly revolutionising our drinking habits. 

With 74% of UK adults now actively moderating their alcohol consumption, this episode delves into the different motivations driving mature drinkers—from health and energy concerns to extending social occasions—and how our approach differs from that of younger generations.

0:00 The sober curious generation
1:13 Inspired at 70!
2:34 A different perspective
4:51 Generational motivations
7:23 Drink expectations
9:21 Money matters
11:14 The role of social media
12:54 Social circles

Also mentioned:
KAM Insights report

Best episode to listen to next:
#68 No.1 mistake made by new low/no drinkers

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Chapters

• 0:00 The sober curious generation
• 1:13 Inspired at 70!
• 2:34 A different perspective
• 4:51 Generational motivations
• 7:23 Drink expectations
• 9:21 Money matters
• 11:14 The role of social media
• 12:54 Social circles

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Hello, hello and welcome to the Low no Drinker podcast, the only twice-weekly podcast helping you to find, understand and enjoy the world of low no and light alcohol drinkers and drinking. My name, as you'll know by now, is Denise Hamilton-Mace and I am the founder, editor and host of all things Low no Drinker. This week we are talking generation game. Lono Drinker. This week we are talking generation game because I think that, as a woman in her mid 40s I'll be 46 next month guys, it is often shouted from the rooftops that Generation Z are the sober, curious generation and I think that they are doing a fantastic job of normalizing the choice to drink less. But I think that something that often gets forgotten is that they are doing a fantastic job of normalizing the choice to drink less, but I think that something that often gets forgotten is that they are not the only ones. So I'm doing this episode today as a shout out to my generation, to all the Gen Xers out there, maybe the older millennials, maybe even some of the boomers who are choosing to change the way that they drink and perhaps might be feeling, because of all the Gen Z talk, that they are the only ones, and I want to tell you that you are not.

Speaker 1: 1:13

I was inspired to do this episode by somebody who's definitely not in my generation. I was contacted a few weeks ago by a lovely Irish gentleman who said that he had found no no Drinker magazine and he was really happy to be reading it and he wanted to share that. He was in his 70s and he had recently, within the last year or so, decided to give up alcohol and change his relationship with booze for various reasons. Obviously, as you're getting on in life, you want to make sure that you can make the most of the days that you've got, the time that you've got with your friends and your family and your loved ones, and so he decided to take a step back from drinking. We are actually interviewing him to appear in the magazine, so do keep an eye out on Lono Drinker magazine for our interview with Eamon. He's a wonderful, wonderful man, but it just reminded me to remind you that, whilst Gen Z are doing amazing things, they are not the only one.

Speaker 1: 2:15

So today we're going to have a little bit of a look about why it is that other generations might be looking at changing the way they drink and what the habits are that are going on in and around the country and overseas that are influencing people of all ages to take a shift in the way that they look at their relationship with alcohol. Because for us I don't want to say older generation, you know I still feel I'm quite in my prime, but you know, for those of us who've been around the block a couple of times, we're coming at this from a different perspective and we have different reasons and different ways of approaching changing our relationship with alcohol and therefore different things that we want from the drinks that we'll find to help us to live a life less intoxicated. So a couple of the numbers that you may have heard me talk about before, but I think that they are the most salient numbers in this space, and that is that 74% of UK adults and it's a similar number in the States are actively moderating their alcohol consumption. There's just not 56% of UK adults in 2024 were actively trying to reduce their alcohol intake, and that is up 50% from 2023 and 40% from 2020. See that the numbers are moving in an upward trajectory. You don't need to be a statistician to know that the numbers are going up and more and more people are looking at their lifestyle and it just goes to show, as I always say, that this is not a fad. This is a lifestyle change and it is impacting all of us. In the CAM Insights 2024 report, which I will link to in the show notes for you if you want to go and have a look at some of this stuff yourself, they've reported that alcohol consumption has declined across all age groups under the age of 55 since 2021. And that weekly alcohol consumption has dropped by 6% among 35 to 54 year olds from 2021 to 24. And the reasons for these changes taking place mirror some of those for the younger generation and include motivations like appearance, health, fitness, behavior, and for the older generations, we also add in things like longevity and energy. There are a lot of things that impact those in my age group.

Speaker 1: 4:48

When it comes to considering our health, you know when I was in my 20s, it was all just about being able to go out to party, to have a good time, to work hard, to play hard, and I didn't really give much thought to it. You know my exercise was on the dance floor. You know it was shaking a leg until three o'clock in the morning, three nights a week, and, trust me, you burn a lot of calories while you're doing that and you're not eating a great deal of food. You know you're partying hard, and even when you do eat less than healthy ideal options, you know that energy is burnt off quickly.

Speaker 1: 5:23

As we get older, we get jobs, we have kids, we sit down more. You know our health becomes far more of an active pursuit in your maturing lifestyle as you start to realize that all this time that you'll spend sitting down rather than standing up dancing means that you might be putting on a little bit of weight around the middle. You might not have the stamina that you used to have and you've got kids to keep up with, maybe grandkids to keep up with. You know you might have a demanding job that takes a lot of your energy and a lot of your focus, and so wanting to make sure that you are in the best version of yourself to be able to keep up with all the things that matter to you is a far more conscious decision for those who are in that sort of older, millennial, gen x, boomer sort of stage in life. Now, interestingly, those over 55 are less likely to be changing their relationship with alcohol, but in some of the numbers that I've seen between 24 and the first quarter of 2025, that's also changing as well and, like I said about our mate Eamon, you know it is hitting everybody across the board.

Speaker 1: 6:34

So moderation has now become a everyday behavior across the generations. It now happens on weekdays, weekends, holidays, regular nights out, cozy nights in, and that's manifesting by those age around 35 to 54 being most likely to reduce the number of drinks that they have on an occasion, so, whether that's just a day at the pub or a night out for a meal, and they're also, between 35 and 54, likely to drink less alcohol on each occasion, whereas Gen Z are more likely to reduce the volume per drink, so likely to perhaps coast with mid-strength drinks or perhaps alternate through something through zebra striping. It's all about the experience and being able to spend more time with your friends, with your family, with your loved ones, with the people you care about and that you have fun with. For a lot of people over 35, moderation helps us to extend the evening rather than shortening it. 44% of people over 35 say that starting with a low-no drink on a night out helps them to drink less overall throughout the evening, and another 44% say that they would stay longer in a venue if they could have a decent non-alcoholic version of their favorite drink.

Speaker 1: 8:00

And I think that's an important point to emphasize here for those in perhaps the Gen X generation is that we'll more likely be looking for drinks that perhaps replicate the drinks that we used to enjoy before. We've spent a lot of time finding our favorite wines and beers and cocktails. We know what we like and, especially as you get older, as you know, you become more and more set in your ways. You become a creature of habit, so you know what flavors and tastes and experiences that you enjoy, and so for older generations, we tend to look more for replicas, for drinks that can reproduce the taste sensations and experiences that we had when drinking full strength. So we want a beer that tastes like a full strength beer. We want spirits and cocktails that taste like full strength versions. However, with the younger generation, as they're nicknamed the Sobecurious generation, a lot of people in their early 20s, for example, might not have consumed alcohol, so when they're going out they're looking for something completely different. It doesn't matter to them that it tastes like name that brand, because they haven't spent time getting to know that brand and put it on top of their favorite list, so they're more likely to be looking for alternative drinks, drinks that offer great flavor experiences, drinks that might offer perhaps some functional ingredients, so that that gives them boost for other things that they're doing in their life.

Speaker 1: 9:21

One other thing that I think is really important to note here and I often talk about this when I'm at public speaking events or when I'm in conversation with people about the generational ways in which we're approaching drinking less is that whilst Gen Z is seen as the so Be Curious generation and they are rightly so out and loud and proud about choosing to consume less alcohol it is also been very widely covered and publicized that Generation Z are financially struggling. Jobs are harder to come by, the cost of living is going up it seems like on an hourly basis, but that's for a different type of show. It is not easy out there at the moment, and disposable income is at a premium for most people, no matter what age you are. But the older you get, the longer you've been in employment, the more you've established your personal wealth, whether that is through being self-employed, whether that's having a job, whether that is having savings. Whatever it is, the older you get, the more disposable income you are likely to have I say that well aware that my two children are bleeding every penny from me, but that's again for another show but you have more disposable income.

Speaker 1: 10:32

So, whilst Gen Z are shouting about this more, it's actually those in Gen X and older millennials that have the money to put behind their new way of drinking, and it is the older generations that can actually financially support this category and can go and spend money on premium bottles of alcohol-free sparkling wines that might cost the same as a full strength version, which non-drinkers of a younger generation might bulk up. You know, it is the older generations that are looking for a drink that gives them a previous experience, that are willing to pay for the privilege and for the possibility of feeling like they used to feel before. So it is across the board that this change is happening and it is being spoken about, I think, more by Gen Z, and I think another large part of that is that slightly older generations might not be as vocal. I know that within my family, within my friends, within my age range. Social media, yes, we're all on it and we're all using it, but it's far more about consuming social media for older generations than it is about posting on social media and saying look at what I'm doing, look at the choices that I'm making. Come on this journey with me, see what I'm up to. Tell me your side of things. So we're not shouting about it as more. This is more of a quieter revolution for older generations, but that doesn't mean that it's any less valid revolution for older generations, but that doesn't mean that it's any less valid.

Speaker 1: 12:05

Anyway, all of this is to say, if you are out there and you are in your late 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, whatever it is, you are never too old to decide that you want to take a look at your relationship with alcohol and make changes for the better in whatever way that serves you. Now, that might not be you saying that I'm giving up booze tomorrow for the rest of my life. This might just be you saying you know what, next time I'm out, I just want to drink a little bit less. And the next time after that, and the next time after that, perhaps you want to start drinking mid-strength drinks. Perhaps you want to zebra strike between full strength and low. No, perhaps you want to coast with light drinks throughout the evening. Whatever it is, whatever age group you are in, there are peers in your own generation who are feeling exactly the same way.

Speaker 1: 12:54

I remember when I first started on this sort of sober, curious journey of my own, I was nervous about telling people because all of my friendships, all of my relationships, had been based on alcohol. My relationship with my husband was born out of us both drinking late night rums together in the basement of a bar that I was running. I hope my old boss isn't listening, but I suppose there's nothing they can do about it now. Um, and my friends, my best friend who was the man of honor at my wedding. His and I friendship was definitely based on alcohol, on partying on late nights, on crazy behaviors, and those people mean so much to me and it was a challenge to them to have to think about our relationships and how they would change and how the dynamics would be if I was drinking less. Now I'm really grateful and happy to say that it hasn't impacted either of those relationships in any negative way. In fact, my husband, after a couple of years of me drinking low, no and light, decided that he actually wants to remove or heavily reduce alcohol in his own life as well, and I think that what you'll find is that the more you talk to your friends and your family about the fact that you are thinking about cutting back on alcohol, that you are feeling sober, curious, or you want to become a mindful drinker, or that you just want to try out these alcohol-free drinks, you'll be surprised at how many people will say do you know what?

Speaker 1: 14:27

Me too, because that's what I got. I got so many people when I tell them what I do, even now, people that I meet that perhaps I haven't known for a very long time and they say what do you do? And I tell them about the magazine and I tell them about the podcast, and their response is oh my gosh, yeah, absolutely me too. I can't drink the way that I used to, or I don't enjoy it as much as I did. Or, yeah, I just want to go out and sit down somewhere and be able to have just one or two drinks and have a conversation and get home at a reasonable time.

Speaker 1: 14:57

And you know some of that yeah, some of that is perhaps not old age, but getting on and deciding that. You know, standing on your feet in a loud club until two o'clock in the morning isn't necessarily the thing that you want to do when you're in your forties. But some of that is going. I really want to enjoy my social life and be able to take it all in and to be present in it and to be a part of it and to remember it and to be proud of my actions on the night.

Speaker 1: 15:24

So, whatever generation you're in, whatever age you are choosing to live a life less intoxicated is not limited by the date on your birth certificate. It is only limited by your adventurism, your excitement and your willingness to try the drinks that can allow you to live a life less intoxicated. Whilst you're with me, do not forget you can go to lonodrinkermagazinecom. Forward slash, subscribe and get full access to every single issue of Lono Drinker Magazine ever published, and you will also be able to see that amazing interview coming up with Eamon about his choice to change his relationship with alcohol in his 70s. That's it from me for this week. Until next time, cheers to a life less intoxicated.