How Britain sobered up

The people of these islands have long been famous for their drinking. A Frenchman writing in the 12th century described the various races of Europe: ‘The French were proud and womanish; the Germans furious and obscene; the Lombards greedy, malicious, and cowardly; and the English were drunkards and had tails.’ By 1751, at the height of the gin craze that William Hogarth immortalised in ‘Gin Lane’, the English were drinking on average the equivalent of 20 bottles of gin per person per year. But Britain is losing its taste for alcohol. Around a quarter of 16- to 24-year-olds don’t drink at all.

It’s a far cry from when I was a teenager in the 1980s. We would sit in the park smoking and drinking, waiting until we looked old enough to go to the pub. In one recent study of young Britons, seven out of ten said that the reason they didn’t drink is because they have so many other ways to be entertained. Rather than go in search of sex in sticky-floored suburban nightclubs, young people just swipe right to find love. Clublife is dying, a victim of ever more restrictive licensing regulations.

When surveyed, Gen Z said they associate alcohol with ‘vulnerability’, ‘anxiety’ and ‘loss of control’. That’s precisely why my generation used to get hammered, but who would want to do the same today, with the ever-present possibility of online disgrace? Alcohol is also seen as unhealthy, and Gen Z are obsessed with their health. Teenagers look different to when I was young; they’re better groomed, with better teeth and skin. They want to look good for social media. They seem obsessed with drinking huge quantities of water. The water bottle has now become a cult item.