Pre-loading: shock figures revealed
All young adults drink at home before a weekend night out — with the average man consuming nearly four drinks before leaving.
That's a key finding of a him! survey of 503 18 to 24-year-olds, commissioned by the Morning Advertiser, which shows the extent to which pre-loading has taken hold among the new generation of drinkers.
It presents a challenge to the pub trade to win over the younger generation — and also spells out the crucial role of home-drinking in the debate about bingeing.
When asked by him! how many drinks they consume at home before a night out at weekends, 0% said none.
Half of people have either two or three drinks, while 27% have four or five. The average young man drinks 3.9 drinks before going out — for women the figure is three. The survey found 38% of young adults drink at home once or twice a week, while 23% do so more often. On average, young people drink at home 1.6 times a week.
Gloomy news
There's more gloomy news for the on-trade, with just 24% saying they buy most of their alcohol from pubs, bars and clubs. This compares to 57% for supermarkets.
The average number of drinks consumed on a weekend night at a pub/club is 5.4.
The survey finds the average time that young people venture out to pubs and clubs on a weekend is 8.56pm. The more affluent the person, the later they leave; those in social grade A don't make a move until 9.24pm, almost two hours after people in grade E (7.29pm). In general, the younger the adult, the earlier they venture out — 18-year-olds leave at 8.07pm, while 22-year-olds wait until 9.19pm.
Similarly, those in the lower social grades drink more when they're out on a weekend. Those in grade E consume 6.3 drinks on average, compared to 4.6 for the wealthiest in grade A.
The study suggests young people are switching from a traditional Friday or Saturday night at the pub or club.
Half of young people have been out only three times in the past two months on the key weekend trading nights.
The survey was revealed yesterday at the Responsible Drinks Retailing Conference in London, organised by the Morning Advertiser and Off Licence News.
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