Bhabani Shankar Nayak
The research report on “The Future Role of Bars in Europe” commissioned by the Heineken beer company in June 2026 and published on 20 October reveals that young people visit bars and pubs to build a social life around food and coffee rather than for alcohol consumption. People continue to visit bars and pubs to meet friends and family. The findings of the Health Survey for England (2024), published in 2026, reveal that “cigarette smoking among adults continued to decline, from 27% in 1993 to 11% in 2024.” The adult non-drinker population is growing, and “gambling activities decreased from 65% in 2012 to 48% in 2024” among young people and adults in the UK. According to the Telegraph/NHS data reports, nearly one-third of Gen Z are teetotal, and one in three Gen Z adults in England does not drink.
The Drinkaware Report (2025) reveals that “49% of young adults choose no and low alcohol drinks to moderate their drinking, nearly doubling since 2018 (28%).” Similarly, a Bank of America Institute study reveals that household spending on alcohol by Gen Z and Millennials has dropped to a near 40-year low. No amount of advertis ing—such as the “Live like the Captain” campaign—at tracts young people to alcohol consumption; older people in stead participate at double the rate of young people in smok ing, drinking and gambling. Nightclubs and pubs no longer attract Gen Z. The Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) reveals that a quarter of UK towns lost all their nightclubs in 2025. Young people prefer a “quieter and more relaxed” life to the drunken dancers in nightclubs. There is a cultural shift in young people’s social lives, social habits and health consciousness. Young people are building their social lives around gyms and coffee shops. They are also becoming financially as well as health-conscious. Thirsty Thursdays and drunk weekends are becoming a thing of the past. There is also luxury fatigue in the market, with sharp sales declines for heavyweight brands such as Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Dior and other luxury goods and services, as young consumers find these products unnecessary. Young people consider that these products lack variety, creativity and emotional resonance. They are also becoming sensitive to the exploitative working conditions of low-wage labourers who produce these expensive products and to the environmental impact of luxury products. Ethical and sustainable consumption is growing among the younger generation.
The declining numbers of drinkers, smokers, gamblers and consumers of luxury and fashionable goods and services among young people tell the story that capitalism and its advertising industry have failed to attract young people into its vicious, desire-based society—a society built on hedonistic conspicuous consumption and a status-signalling culture in which commodity consumption defines human life. Gen Z is fighting in the streets, with humour, to reclaim democratic rights and liberties from geriatric politicians who are working to snatch away the very freedom that is core to being young and creative. The geriatric establishment in all spheres of society continues to undermine young people by branding them as drug addicts, deviants and apathetic to different issues. These claims are simply not true. Young people disdain all forms of reactionary right-wing thought, behaviour and action. That is why the geriatric establishment brands young people as not following culture or tradition, or as apolitical.
A recent study by the John Smith Centre at the University of Glasgow found that half (50%) of 16-to-29-year-olds would refuse to fight for Britain under any circumstances. Narrow nationalism and its war-mongering propaganda do not attract young people. Young people oppose all forms of imperialist wars and conflicts. Young people seek peace, stability, freedom and prosperity. No more fictitious American dreams excite the youth. There is a growing socialist tendency among young people across the world. The world will be in the safe hands of idealistic young people who can face the contemporary challenges of patriarchal and racialised capitalism and imperialism and overcome them by offering a socialist future for the world.
The writer teaches at the London Metropolitan University.
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