Middle-aged Americans see sharp rise in heavy drinking as overall consumption falls
A new USC-Keck study finds that while U.S. alcohol use has modestly declined overall, adults aged 50-64 have increased their heavy drinking sharply.
A study led by the University of Southern California/Keck Medicine examined self-reported drinking habits of 114,352 U.S. adults between 2018 and 2024. It found a modest overall decline in alcohol consumption and heavy drinking since 2022, yet the 50-64 age bracket experienced a near-4% increase in use and a 36% surge in heavy drinking. By comparison, Gen Z adults reduced use by over 5% and Millennials drank about 17% less.
Men showed a slightly larger drop in overall drinking, while women reduced heavy drinking more than men but remain 13% above 2018 levels. Experts cited factors such as loneliness, grief, chronic pain, and retirement-related identity shifts as possible drivers for the older-adult increase, and warned that physiological changes make alcohol riskier for this group.
Why it matters
Rising heavy drinking among older Americans poses growing health risks and may strain healthcare resources.
In this story
