Are people drinking less alcohol?

Georgina Jackson (0:06)

Hello, welcome to 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Georgie.

Neil Edgeller (0:11)

And I'm Neil. Did you know you can now watch this podcast with subtitles? Find it at bbclearningenglish.com.

Georgina Jackson (0:19)

Hi Neil.

Neil Edgeller (0:19)

Hi Georgie. Do you want to hear something quite unusual for me?

Georgina Jackson (0:23)

Err, yes.

Neil Edgeller (0:24)

I haven't had an alcoholic drink this year.

Georgina Jackson (0:28)

Wow, that is really impressive. How do you feel? Like a new person?

Neil Edgeller (0:32)

I do feel very good, I have to say.

Georgina Jackson (0:35)

I can't say the same. I did have a few alcoholic drinks at the weekend with my friends.

But in many parts of the world, people don't drink alcohol at all. In the UK, it's very common. That is, until recently. Today, on 6 Minute English, we're going to find out why many people are choosing to give up or cut down on alcohol. And we'll be asking, is this the end of British drinking culture?

OK, Neil, let's start with a quiz question. Many people in the UK and other countries choose to give up alcohol in the New Year for the whole of the month of January. But what is the challenge called? Is it a. No drink New Year, b. Alcohol-free January, or c. Dry January?

Neil Edgeller (1:23)

Well, I know the answer to this, but I'm not going to give it away.

Georgina Jackson (1:27)

OK, well then our listeners can find out the answer at the end of the programme.

Neil Edgeller (1:31)

Yes, they can. So, Georgie, I hear all the time that younger people don't drink as much alcohol today as they used to in the past. Is that true?

Georgina Jackson (1:41)

Well, in the UK, surveys suggest that 16-24-year-olds are more likely to be non-drinkers than the older generations.

Neil Edgeller (1:50)

OK, so why are more young people choosing to be sober? That means not to drink alcohol.

Georgina Jackson (1:57)

Well, the BBC World Service podcast What in the World have been investigating this. Presenter Hannah Gelbart met three young people who choose to be sober for some alcohol-free drinks to find out more. Here's Daniel's story.

Daniel (2:11)

Yeah, so today I don't drink at all.

But when I was in my early 20s, I think I felt maybe a bit of like societal pressure, you know, work drinks or being at uni where it was the norm to just join in. I think you'd probably get a few weird glasses for like, I'm not going to join in at all. So I did that. And I think COVID lockdown just gave me a bit of confidence to say, OK, let me step away from this. It's not necessarily something I want to do moving forward.

Millie (2:33)

So how many years have you been sober for?

Daniel (2:36)

I would say it's been six years now.

Neil Edgeller (2:38)

Six years.

Georgina Jackson (2:39)

So Daniel says that when he was younger, he felt societal pressure to drink alcohol. Societal pressure is feeling like you need to do something because lots of people around you are doing it.

Neil Edgeller (2:51)

Right. So Daniel says drinking was the norm at university and after work. The norm is a way of saying that something is normal or common.

Georgina Jackson (3:00)

But during the COVID-19 pandemic, when people in the UK were unable to socialise and visit pubs and bars, Daniel's attitude to alcohol changed. After that, he decided to be sober and he hasn't had a drink for about six years.

Neil Edgeller (3:15)

So, Georgie, it seems like many young people don't drink at all and lots of them share their experience of being sober on social media. But recently, there's been a bit of a change, hasn't there?

Georgina Jackson (3:27)

Yes. Whilst many people use social media to share their experience of drinking less alcohol, or no alcohol at all, some people have been saying that they want to go out more and drink and have fun with friends. They argue we're too worried about fitness and wellness, and that drinking some alcohol to have a good time is fine.

Here's Millie talking more about this to BBC World Service podcast, What in the World?

Millie (3:52)

I think we had this like rise of self-optimisation content. I think unfortunately, sobriety kind of got swept in with that, and it got touted as this way to get up at 5am, do a hyrox, and you know, for many of us, that's probably not our reality with not drinking. It's that we do it to feel a bit more sane, or you know, things like that. And so I think now we are entering this like almost pushback era of that content. You're seeing celebrities like it's not just alcohol, you see more celebrities smoking and like posting that on their Instagram, and not worrying if it's brand friendly.