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I think I'd pin the primary cause as the cost of living increasing rapidly and salaries not keeping up with inflation. Couple that with it becoming increasingly

I think I'd pin the primary cause as the cost of living increasing rapidly and salaries not keeping up with inflation. Couple that with it becoming increasingly obvious that alcohol consumption has negative health effects and it's not surprising that people look for other forms of entertainment. There's also just more to do in the modern world. There's things like raves as you pointed out, video games, the online world. There's also a million new hobbies which are now much more accessible thanks to the internet and online stores, and much more media content. Compare today's access to entertainment to the pre-television era... And finally, to top it all off, we have technologies like instant messaging. Instant messaging makes it possible to group text your pals after work and decide to meet anywhere you like. Before that, coordinating with a large group of people was a lot more complex and took some planning ahead, so maybe it was just easier to default to always meeting to the pub after work.

anovikov 4y ago
Well, as GDP keeps rising, so inevitably is consumption. Whether the money comes from salaries or otherwise, doesn't matter. People drink less, and this is good.
- grapeskin 4y ago
  GDP rising doesn’t necessarily mean normal folk are consuming more. GDP can rise if people are simply spending more for the same thing and buying less of it. It can rise if fewer people are buying anything but some people are spending far more for certain luxuries.
fleddr 4y ago
I don't agree with the cost of living remark. The main reason is that contrary to pubs, restaurants are doing extremely well. At least where I live. Quite a few pubs are converted into restaurants and they're full all of the time. Even in my small town. For sure there's a COVID catch up effect, but this is a long running trend. It suggests that just price is not a very strong driver for changing behavior. Yes, a full time pub life is increasingly rare, but as it comes to health, I don't think it's a serious consideration for young people. Or the particular group of young people looking for "fun". They still drink, just differently. Or do lots of drugs. Health seems the least of their worries. I do agree with your last point: many more distractions and types of entertainment. Pubs might have filled a void that no longer exists. Except for one: spontaneous socializing. You can just walk into any pub and with a bit of luck, have an interesting/healing conversation, meet new people, perhaps even a friend, or find romance. Nobody in the pub would find any of it awkward as that is kind of the point of a pub.

anovikov 4y ago

Well, as GDP keeps rising, so inevitably is consumption. Whether the money comes from salaries or otherwise, doesn't matter. People drink less, and this is good.

grapeskin 4y ago
GDP rising doesn’t necessarily mean normal folk are consuming more. GDP can rise if people are simply spending more for the same thing and buying less of it. It can rise if fewer people are buying anything but some people are spending far more for certain luxuries.

fleddr 4y ago

I don't agree with the cost of living remark. The main reason is that contrary to pubs, restaurants are doing extremely well. At least where I live. Quite a few pubs are converted into restaurants and they're full all of the time. Even in my small town. For sure there's a COVID catch up effect, but this is a long running trend. It suggests that just price is not a very strong driver for changing behavior. Yes, a full time pub life is increasingly rare, but as it comes to health, I don't think it's a serious consideration for young people. Or the particular group of young people looking for "fun". They still drink, just differently. Or do lots of drugs. Health seems the least of their worries. I do agree with your last point: many more distractions and types of entertainment. Pubs might have filled a void that no longer exists. Except for one: spontaneous socializing. You can just walk into any pub and with a bit of luck, have an interesting/healing conversation, meet new people, perhaps even a friend, or find romance. Nobody in the pub would find any of it awkward as that is kind of the point of a pub.