Millennials Aren't Going Out to Drink and Date, Study Says — But Why?
Are apps to blame, or are millennials just lazy and poor?
As a “younger millennial,” I will admit that any negative news about the millennial generation gets my defensive hackles up. But a new study about millennials and our socializing habits doesn’t seem totally off-base to me. Apparently, younger millennials aren’t going out to drink and date, and there are a lot of pretty good reasons why.
Mintel, a market research firm, published the results of a study on millennial socializing habits on Tuesday and came up with some pretty interesting results. Turns out, three in 10 young adults aged 24 to 31 (or about 28 percent) told researchers that they’d rather drink alcohol at home because “it takes too much effort to go out,” Moneyish reported. But there’s actually more to it than that.
Typical millennial, always on their phone. It's not like phones are an important tool or a wealth of information or anything.
Mintel reported that a little more than half (55 percent) of American consumers would rather drink at home, so it’s not like millennials are alone in this. But not only did people in the study who prefer to drink at home say it’s because it’s more relaxing (74 percent), but — and this is super important when it comes to young adults — they also cited the fact that it’s cheaper (69 percent).
Think about it. Millennials are poor. Why would they choose to go out and pay a ton of money all the time for alcohol they can consume more cheaply at home? Maybe as a special treat, but people with massive students loans and lower salaries are not generally going to be out at the bar every night buying up shots for all their friends. We got bills, y’all.
Avocado toast doesn't pay for itself!
Plus, so what if millennials don’t want to go to the effort of getting gussied up and going out all the time? The truth is, dating apps and online services make it easier than ever not to go to all that effort unless it’s for something really special.
And speaking of something special, Moneyish pointed out that about a third (35 percent) of respondents said that they see drinking at home as “a more personal way to catch up” than trying to scream at your friends across a crowded bar or club. So it might just be that the people who prefer to drink at home would rather have a more meaningful experience when they do socialize, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Mintel concluded that “millennials are currently leading the way when it comes to socializing in the home,” but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. If millennials are saving their money, fostering more personal get-togethers, and using the tools available to them to socialize at home such as dating apps, more power to us.
Now give me my home mixologist participation trophy, already.
