Kids these days.

Declines in beer, wine, and spirits sales over the past couple years have been well-documented – wine has taken a particular beating recently. The impact of legal weed and GLP-1 drugs grab most of the headlines, which our data resoundingly confirms.

But I suspect those forces will moderate with time. The generational shifts around alcohol might not.  

While Maddie was off doing summer stock in May and June, her college roommate Sarah, a rising junior from Detroit, lived with us while doing an internship in Pittsburgh. Sarah doesn’t drink or smoke. Zero.

Now home for the summer, Maddie brought her childhood friend Mona to our cabin last weekend. While the grown-ups were vociferously day-drinking, we let – encouraged, in fact – Maddie and Mona to partake with us. Between them, they had a couple of High Noons over three days. No tequila. No Moscow Mules. Despite my strongest urging.

It’s not only my small focus group of 20-year-olds. Falling alcohol consumption among Gen Z is all over our data.   

One afternoon, I asked Maddie and Mona the same question I asked Sarah a week earlier: “Why doesn’t your generation drink?” Remarkably, their answers were nearly identical. Nobody mentioned cannabis or Ozempic. 

They corroborated three themes: 

First, they gather far less often in groups, thanks to a combination of screens, social media, and residual post-pandemic habits (or anxiety). More of their interactions are virtual, and – if you remember the awful “virtual happy hours” of lockdown – drinking on Zoom sucks. That one was the least surprising, if also the saddest.

Second, the stigma around mental health has swung 180 degrees. When I was 20, if you saw a therapist, you kept it a secret, lest you were made an outcast. For Gen Z, if you don’t actively tend to your mental health, you’re a pariah. They would shudder at being accused of using alcohol to self-medicate. I can only imagine what they say about me behind my back.

Third and most ironic (while I was literally pestering them to drink), because their parents are more liberal about them drinking, it’s lost its rebellious appeal. When I was in college, the kids who spun out of control were often the ones raised by the strictest parents. Gen Z has been less shackled, while still having attentive moms and dads. By being cool, we’ve made it uncool.

Good job, Gen X parents. 

I guess we’ll be drinking alone.   

Here’s what we’re seeing: 

Americans’ financial health is in steady decline. After a brief spike in early May, our Consumer Financial Health Index had a fifth consecutive weekly drop in its latest reading, the kind of streak we haven’t seen in a long time. To be fair, the fall hasn’t been steep, merely consistent, which feels more real than the one-off dramatic spikes we often see in the wake of the news cycle. Driving consumers’ financial malaise is a plummeting outlook for their personal savings, which we can only assume they’re draining to sustain their summer spending and pay down debt. Not coincidentally, only our collective credit outlook is slightly improving.

See above: Travelers are finding all sorts of creative ways to fund their summer vacations. In our 3 Things to Know this week, we looked at how Americans are setting near-daily records for air travel, all while buying clothes, accessories, and other goods for their trips – in the face of stiff economic headwinds. Savings, credit cards, BNPL, and even gifts/loans from family are helping people cover the costs. We also found, randomly, that apparently, younger consumers care a lot about how many pockets they have in their pants. Also, the popularity of pickleball just keeps growing and growing. 

People are tuning into politics again (thanks a lot Biden!). If, like me, you enjoyed the respite from incendiary posts on Facebook for the past several months, the party’s over. It appears the will-he-won’t-he drama surrounding President Biden awoke news consumers from their slumber in late June, according to our latest tracking data. Meanwhile, the convictions of Donald Trump and Hunter Biden had a minuscule effect on pre-ruling Trump and Biden voters…if anything, Trump voters were further emboldened. And, in the final freebie from this month’s Election Mindset Tracker (which you should subscribe to here), we found that Republicans (i.e., the party built on the principles of limited government) believe presidents should be immune from criminal prosecution for “official acts.” Crazy times we’re living in.

More and more women are caring for their aging parents and it’s taking an obvious toll. In a new and super-important area of focus here, we’re digging deeper into the lives and behaviors of America’s caregivers. Nearly 30% of U.S. adults 25+ tend to one or more ailing parent, child, spouse, or partner – most of them doing so in addition to a day job. While men are much more likely to be caring for a spouse/partner, women carry vastly disproportionate responsibility for children and aging parents. No surprise, it leads to significantly higher levels of emotional and physical strain among America’s better half. So, guess how the numbers break when we ask people whether they support increased federal funding for caregivers and recipients. 

Anticipation for next week’s Prime Day(s) is at record heights. As more and more U.S. shoppers look to stretch their dollars, the percentage who plan to participate in Amazon’s summer sales extravaganza is up significantly YoY (and YoYoY). For the first time in the many years we’ve tracked the event, a clear majority of Prime members intend to shop. A further sign of the times, intent to purchase more essential items, like apparel and beauty products, is up over last year, while things like home décor and outdoor are down. As has become an annual tradition, we will be hosting a webinar the day after the event, sharing our hot-off-the-press data on what people bought and why. Don’t miss it. 

More awesomeness from the InsightStore (lots, because I skipped last week):

The most popular questions this week:

Do you feel like a better dancer after a few drinks?

How do you pronounce the word “Appalachian”?

How often do you drink soda?

What is your beverage of choice on very hot summer days?

Do you tend to look forward to or dread out-of-town family visits?

Answer Key: All the alcohol in the world wouldn’t make me a good dancer; Hard A; Never; Arnold Palmer; Absolutely love it.

Hoping you’re well.

JD

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