Baby-boomers drink more alcohol, such as generation Z, millennials have reduced

Children nowadays do not drink as much as before. They meet sober and alcohol -free game nights and whatever the zebra line. But do you know who still drops? Their parents and grandparents. While the media (including this publication) have chatted on reducing alcohol on generation Z and Millennials, many of us have missed that older generations were moving the trend. Many baby boomers are transformed into Boozers babies. They find themselves retired, they have savings to spend, and they benefit from a little life victory – accompanied by a glass of wine (or three).

A recent analysis of customer credit card expenditure by the Bank of America Institute revealed that overall expenses in bars in January were up 1% compared to the previous year. The group responsible for the increase: baby boomers, which increased their expenses by 4% and seemed to opt for the bar to go to a restaurant. While generation Z and millennials always spend a greater overall quantity in bars (the last time you have come out, you probably did not see the bar grouping of couguars and silver foxes), their tabs shrink. Generation Z, for example, decreased its expenses in bars and alcohol stores in January by 15% compared to the same month in 2023. Young people fell difficult things; Baby-boomers do not follow him.

“The interesting thing that happens is that a higher share of the Baby-Boomers exit budgets is devoted to bars,” said Joe Wadford, an economist at the Bank of America Institute.

A consumer survey by CGA by NIQ, a research firm on the food and food industry, revealed that average monthly spending in bars and restaurants by people between 21 and 34 years old went from $ 166 in the fall of 2023 to $ 154 in the fall of 2024. During this period, all of this was not on $ 55. The percentage of Americans over 55 who say they drink alcohol increased from 49% in the early 2000s to 59% today, Gallup revealed; Among the people between 18 and 34 years old, it increased from 72% to 62%. The proportion of older adults who sometimes say exaggerating it also increased during this period, while for everyone, it is lowered. Older drinkers also drink more frequently. An analysis of commercial initiates of the office of Labor Statistics revealed that spending on alcoholic beverages, adjusted for inflation, have decreased among most age groups since the mid -80s – except among people over 65.

Overall, the elderly drink even less than the youngest, but the generations evolve in opposite directions. Baby-boomers raise more glasses while their children and grandchildren are dismissed.

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So what’s going on here? On the one hand, the baby boomers have been spending big on alcohol for years, and that will not change a switch around, especially now that their children have left the house and that they no longer have the man to answer. They have time and money to spend, and they want to spend a game for alcohol – and beautiful things too. Now that they can afford it, they buy more beautiful wines and premium brand liquors, avoiding cheap options from their young on a tight budget.

“They are really in this kind of yolo period of their life where it is like” I have money; I feel good; People live longer, healthier lives. I travel more compared to previous generations “”, said Kate Bernot, principal analyst at Sightlines, who is doing research on the alcohol industry. “They are just in a way in this great listening time when buying beautiful things sounds well.”

While generation Z and millennials are aging in more financial obligations, the baby boomers came out.

Young adults have their bank accounts in different directions. They try to buy houses or are struggling with mortgages. They have car payments and childcare and student debt costs. Baby-boomers, the youngest of which were in the early 1960s, are free from many expenses. They harvested the advantages of the rise in house prices and a booming stock market. If you are 23 years old and you find it hard to pay your rent, you may have no choice but to exchange an evening in town for a quiet evening with a pack of six to save money. A 65 -year -old man who has no work tomorrow for the first time in 40 years and who is sitting on a nice little egg nest does not do the same calculation. While generation Z and millennials are aging in more financial obligations, the baby boomers came out.

“For the older generation, if you think of the economic winds and economic problems, they might not have been as assigned as much as young people,” said Matt Crompton, vice-president of the NIQ market study company, which focuses on the restaurant and bar market.

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The elderly may not listen or be as aware of health problems around moderate alcohol consumption as young people. They came at a time when a certain consumption of alcohol was considered healthy – this glass or two of red wine at night was supposed to be good for their hearts. They have rooted habits, they will not be quick to fall into the way the youngest could try dry January, sober October or exchange non -alcoholic options in their routines on occasion.

“They have always been fairly strong alcohol consumers since they have transformed a legal consumption age, so they are only continuing these models, and now they just have money and time,” said Bernot.

Crompton pointed out that while cannabis is in competition for the “dollar buzz” among young consumers, this is not so much the case for most older ones. “The older consumer will often stand for what they know,” he told me.

Baby-boomers may not be what we consider to be the consumer typical of alcohol. We do not see them much in alcohol advertisements or in the media. But that does not mean that they are not delighted to explore alcohol – and brands are starting to notice. During the Super Bowl, Michelob Ultra led an advertisement featuring Catherine O’Hara, who is 71 years old, and Willem Dafoe, 69, playing younger competitors on the pickleball field for beer. The brands “finally wake up to the enormous power of expenses and interest” for baby boomers, said Bernot.

For the alcohol industry, the Boomer Boozer represents a market under the radar to serve. But there is an imminent problem: as the cohort is aging from “fun retiree” to “Old Old”, they will become less frequent consumers. As people enter the 1970s and 80s, they really slow alcohol consumption and, at some point, they die. According to the lines of view, baby boomers represent 40% of all alcohol spending in the United States. Brands work to replace them, but respond to the tastes of a young generation – especially when they generally reduce – can be difficult. This is a problem for wine, especially. The latest report by the Silicon Valley Bank on the state of the American wine industry found that wine is the favorite of the three main categories of alcoholic beverages for people over 60, while it ranks hard for people under the age of 60, behind spirits and beer.

Baby-boomers simply appreciate well deserved downtime.

“I hope that we all went to the idea that we should not worry about young consumers who come to wine, and all that we have to do is to wait or, in another way – to be patient and do nothing,” wrote Rob McMillan, the founder of the Division of the wine of Silicon Valley Bank, in the report. “Not changing anything will not change our current situation.”

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Baby -boomers are not overnight in their retirement communities – or at least most of them are not. But they do not move away from alcohol in the same way as the young generations, and they keep the party longer than the generations before them. Grandmother could still have her two glasses of wine at dinner, while mom has a half glass, and her 21-year-old daughter opts for a diet coke. Or Dad always goes to the bar for the big match and spends $ 30 for a handful of beers, while his son looks at home with Na sports beers shared with friends. The older half of the family cannot understand how to get the games with all the streaming services now, anyway.

Aside from health considerations, baby boomers are at a time when they have space and finances to enjoy a drink more than they have done for a long time. So they take the opportunity.

“It really comes down to the place where they are with their stages of life,” said Wadford. “Baby-boomers simply appreciate well deserved downtime.”

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Emily Stewart is a main correspondent at Business Insider, writing on business and the economy.

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