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Gen Z's nowism
Faced with an uncertain future, Gen Z is living in the now
A clutch of recent data suggests that Gen Z might be breaking up with restraint and instead leaning in to more immediate, intense pleasures. From embracing drinking culture, to tanning with abandon, to smoking real cigarettes, many in Gen Z are shifting their focus to feel more alive in the now.
In August, London’s Times reported that the city’s “unpolished neighborhood dive bars” are now filled with Gen Z. Cal McRae, the owner of Ellie’s Bar in Dalston told the publication that he thinks “people…of all generations, are craving experiences, having fun and caring less again, and so they should be.”
Bucking the trend linking this cohort with greater sobriety, data released in 2026 by The Millennium Cohort Study by the UCL Centre for Longitudinal Studies which surveys almost 10,000 British people born between 2000 and 2002, finds that at age 23, 68% reported binge drinking in the past year, with 29% regularly consuming six or more alcoholic drinks in one sitting. Beyond drinking, the survey finds that 49% of 23-year-olds have used cannabis and 32% have tried harder drugs, such as cocaine, ketamine and ecstasy.
The study’s lead author, Dr Aase Villadsen at the UCL Centre for Longitudinal Studies, commented that “although late adolescence and early adulthood is a time when young people tend to experiment, increased binge drinking and drug use does give cause for concern, especially if these behaviors become more ingrained during their 20s.”
Smoking is also edging its way back into youth culture. As the Instagram account cigfluencers’ 102k followers attests, cigarettes are once again serving as a visual shortcut to nonchalant cool. Witness Madonna and Charli XCX, who prompted some chatter when they were spotted smoking front row at the YSL SS27 show in Milan in June. Additionally, a 2025 Truth Initiative survey cited by Scientific American found that the number of US 12th graders - aged 17 and 18 - who use any tobacco products rose from 17% in 2024 to 21.8% in 2025.
Even tanning – for a period taboo for inducing skin damage – is making a comeback.
According to a 2026 American Academy of Dermatology Association survey, 20% of US Gen Zs say getting a tan is more important to them than preventing skin cancer, compared to 14% of the general population, while 11% of Gen Z reported a sunburn in 2025 that caused blisters.
And tanmaxxing videos on TikTok – in which influencers counsel how to achieve the deepest of tans by whatever means – have views into the hundreds of thousands.
Dr Helen Wessels, a clinical psychologist at Harley Therapy in London, tells VML Intelligence that from a clinical and psychological perspective, “what may connect these behaviors psychologically is a focus on more immediate rewards.” She explains: “when people are living with prolonged stress or feel that the future is unpredictable or difficult to influence, behaviors that offer immediate relief, pleasure, connection, or a sense of control can become more appealing.” She adds that “for some individuals, they may be better understood as different ways of coping with uncertainty or a reduced sense of agency.”
Wessels notes that in her clinical experience with members of Gen Z, she is seeing “anxiety, pressure around major life decisions and genuine uncertainty about the future.” She concludes “I would frame this less as straightforward nihilism and more as an understandable attempt to balance future planning with making the most of the present.”
I would frame this less as straightforward nihilism and more as an understandable attempt to balance future planning with making the most of the present.
According to Alex Bryson, Professor of Quantitative Social Science at UCL's Social Research Institute (whose work is separate from the university's Millennium Cohort Study), it's difficult to separate age effects from cohort effects, meaning this trend might simply reflect the ordinary experimentation of early adulthood rather than a lasting generational shift. As Bryson asks: "Will this be a one-off shift that persists, or will [the cohort] revert back to the behaviors of the previous cohort that exhibited... less risky behaviors at this point?"
For now, though, Gen Z's appetite for risk-taking suggests a logical response to an uncertain world: a form of escapism, or a way of claiming pleasure in the now, when faced with a challenging future. This aligns with VML Intelligence data, which finds that 70% of global Gen Z like the idea of escaping to a different reality.
The Intelligence Take
While Gen Z might have previously been pigeonholed as wellness-obsessed, it seems that at least for 20-something Gen Zs, they are turning toward more present-tense pleasures, showing that they do not want to postpone joy until their futures feel secure. This plays out against a backdrop of a world that’s become even more unpredictable since Covid upended society in 2020. As Wessels points out, “young adults still want to build careers, relationships and meaningful lives. What I see is more of a tension between trying to plan for the future while also living with considerable uncertainty about what that future will look like.”
