How rising costs priced Gen Z out of having fun

They are seen as puritans who drink less, but young people often can’t afford the wild nights of their predecessors, writes Eve Upton-Clark

Mia Westrap, 26, is doing a “no-buy year”. She is forgoing dinners with friends, dates and nights out, and even cutting out the little things like soft drinks and charity shop purchases.

Growing up in poverty, Westrap never learnt how to budget and ended up getting £3,000 into debt during her time at university. “Ever since then I’ve always been either in my overdraft or, if I’ve come out of it, I’m always dipping back into it by the end of the month before payday,” she says.

Earning £34,000 a year in her job in health and social care, Westrap found herself ending each month in the red. “It got to the point where I was missing out on so many things in my life that I thought something needs to change.”

Before her decision to cut back on her spending, “going out was a huge part of my life, I loved it”. She would spend weekends in pubs, easily shelling out £100 at a time. “I feel like we’re definitely being priced out of fun,” she says.

She isn’t alone in going out less: Generation Z is known for being staid, puritan … even boring. According to a July 2022 survey from live-streaming platform Keep Hush, Gen Z’s interest in clubbing has waned since the pandemic, with only 25pc expressing interest in going out. The number of young adults aged 18 to 34 who say they drink at all has decreased from 72pc to 62pc over two decades, according to Gallup.

Google research in 2019 showed 41pc of Gen Zers associate alcohol with “vulnerability”, “anxiety” and even “abuse”.

While much has been made of these statistics – and stereotypes – soaring rents and the cost of living crisis have crunched the budgets of young people, forcing them to cut down. One viral tweet put it plainly: “Wonder if the notorious Gen Z puritanism thing is less an organic social shift and more them being priced out of hedonism.” After all, the tweet continues, “four pints and a pack of cigarettes is £50 now”.

Are young people shunning the wild nights of the past because they’re simply not interested or because they can no longer afford it?

Emily Shaw, 22, graduated from university last summer and went straight into a job in PR. Settling into a rented flat in Manchester city centre, she finds herself grappling with the transition to adulthood and the accompanying financial responsibilities. “I am in a position where it is kind of choosing between socialising or having a house fund,” she says. For Shaw, her future financial stability is a priority, saving for milestones like home- ownership and marriage over short-term gratification.

After covering rent and bills, Shaw has a weekly allowance of £70, including all living expenses and leaving little room for social activities. “I do like going on a night out but I think it’s in my head that it’s an expensive thing to do,” she says. “I kind of shy away from it a little bit.”

Alternatively, she will opt for window shopping around town or meeting friends for coffee, where she can restrict herself to a single drink to remain within budget.

The party culture that characterised the youth of the 1990s, 2000s and early 2010s has dwindled. Meanwhile, the cost of being hedonistic has soared. The average cost of a pint has risen by more than 20pc from 2019 to 2023 to reach £4.60, according to the British Beer and Pub Association ( BBPA), with prices in London exceeding £6 on average. At the same time, the number of pubs has declined by a quarter since the turn of the century. And in 2005, the UK had more than 3,000 nightclubs; by June last year that number had dropped to only 851.

Michael Kill, of the Night Time Industries Association, believes pinning the decline in young people going out as simply being down to a change in people’s attitudes is missing the bigger picture. “Part of it, without a doubt, could be a market shift,” he says. “But I think the overarching position is the inflationary pressure on people. Because of the cost of daily living, going out is becoming very difficult because people have not got the money to spend on it.”

According to a 2023 survey by Deloitte, the cost of living ranks as the foremost concern among Gen Z- ers worldwide. Almost half (46pc) admit to living payday to payday, and worry about covering their expenses, with 43pc taking on either a part or full-time job in addition to their primary job to do so – higher than millennials.

For Jack Henry, 26, nightlife is a way of life. It runs in the family: his father owned venues, orchestrating underground raves during the 1980s and 1990s. After training in law, Jack switched careers in 2017 to follow in his father’s footsteps, and is senior operations manager at E1, a nightclub in east London.

Going out is a huge part of his life, but he has noticed among his peers a shift towards seeing a night out as a “special occasion” rather than a routine weekly indulgence.

“That is something that is massively missing now, compared with even five years ago,” he says.

“People were going out just for the enjoyment of going out. Now it really has shifted.”

But for Westrap, having fun isn’t an option. “Do I want experiences or do I want to be able to retire? It feels like both of those things used to be within reach and now neither of them are.”

Mia Westrap Earns £34,000 a year, but found herself in the red each month ‘Going out was a huge part of my life ... I feel like we’re definitely being priced out of fun’

Emily Shaw Works in PR and has a weekly allowance of £70 after bills ‘I am in a position of choosing between socialising or having a house fund’

Jack Henry Followed his father’s footsteps to pursue a career in nightclubs ‘People were going out just for the enjoyment of going out. Now it really has shifted’