OPINION:
Young Americans are drinking less than any other generation in modern history, but they are also socializing less, leaving the house less and smoking marijuana more.
According to Gallup, only 62% of Americans younger than 35 drink any adult beverages, down from 72% two decades ago. Other research shows this age cohort regularly drinks at half the rate of those ages 35 to 50 but regularly smokes marijuana 40% more.
Journalists and cultural commentators often celebrate this shift as a sign of health and moral progress. Headlines praise younger generations for swapping “barstools for barbells.”
Yet the coverage doesn’t mention the unintended consequence: Young adults today are also the loneliest generation in modern history. According to the American Time Use Survey, young Americans spend nearly half as much time socializing with friends as their counterparts did two decades ago.
In other words, declining business at neighborhood bars and restaurants is a real-time indicator of American social engagement levels.
Social isolation is a public health crisis. A 2023 surgeon general’s report finds loneliness is as dangerous as smoking, increasing the risk of premature death by 26%. Strong evidence links it with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetes, accelerated cognitive decline and depression.
These health consequences help explain the long-observed drinking and mortality “J-curve”: As the National Academies of Sciences recently reaffirmed in a 230-page review, people who drink wine, beer or spirits in moderation have lower all-cause mortality than those who abstain entirely.
No one is saying that alcohol is healthy, but its association with dinners, celebrations, gatherings and nights out with friends may offer a greater social benefit that the anti-alcohol movement overlooks.
Unless addressed, the trend of social isolation may further decelerate American birth rates.
One recent study shows that only 30% of young people are actively dating. Half of single young men say they are not even looking for a relationship or dates. America may be developing a generation of what Japan calls “herbivore men,” those who aren’t interested in relationships and are disengaged from society.
There are many reasons for the loneliness epidemic. Modern life offers endless forms of private, frictionless entertainment: scrolling, streaming, gaming, delivery and online pornography that make isolation easy. These habits generate dopamine overloads that ordinary life struggles to match.
It’s a vicious cycle: People spend more time on their screens, so they socialize less. As they socialize less, they spend even more time on their screens. Meanwhile, their social skills continue to erode.
To reverse this social slide and compete with the doomscrolling drug, in-person social life must feel appealing in the moment. It must offer atmosphere, fun, social proof and the sense that something is happening and you should be there.
Cultural elites preaching about “community,” “connection” and “third spaces” isn’t compelling enough to change behavior.
To rebuild social participation, we need more cultural encouragement to get people out and join others in environments they will actually enjoy. At the top of this list are bars, restaurants, patios, happy hours, concerts, parties, dinners with friends and, yes, even pickleball.
These create energy and habits. They make being out in the world feel normal and rewarding again.
For many adults, responsible drinking is part of these environments. Social drinking has long been a key part of celebrating, unwinding, watching games, meeting new people and spending time together. Most people intuitively understand that a beer or glass of wine can help make an occasion more festive, more relaxed and more worth leaving home for.
Such social events can create memories and relationships that TikTok scrolling can’t replicate. As New York University professor Scott Galloway recently put it to Bill Maher: “Think of all the amazing relationships you’ve had in your life and be honest: Did alcohol play a role?”
A culture of greater social interaction will inevitably involve moderate alcohol consumption. That is a better health outcome than the status quo of social atomization. The Uber and Lyft culture that has become normalized over the past decade has reduced the threat of impaired driving that existed in previous generations.
In the 1960s, counterculture icon Timothy Leary captured the spirit of rebellion with the phrase: “Turn on, tune in and drop out.” Today’s lonely, screen-addicted generation needs the opposite message: Turn off, get up and go out!
• Rick Berman is president of RBB Strategies.
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