WOMENS' DRINKING

by Alcohol Concern

Key points

• Women are more likely to be abstainers, drink less than men and have fewer alcohol related problems than men.
• BUT women's drinking is on the increase, whereas men's drinking is fairly stable.
• Young women drink the most and have the highest rates of alcohol dependence

How many women drink?

In 1994, 86% of women over 16 report drinking, 14% claim they never drink - about the same proportions as ten years before. In comparison, 93% of men report drinking, 7% say they never drink.(1)

How much do women drink?

According to surveys, women drink on average about 5.4 units a week, compared with 15.4 units a week for men. But both these amounts may be an under-estimate: figures from HM Customs and Excise show only minor variations in consumption since 1980, at about 17 units a week for each adult. This followed an increase in consumption by both sexes in the 1970s.(2)

How many women drink too much?

• In 1994, 13% of women (3.1 million women in Britain) reported drinking more than 14 units a week, the recommended level until 1995.
• About 2% of women (half a million) drink at very risky levels - over 35 units a week. Drinking at this level puts their health in jeopardy.
• In comparison, 27% of men (about 6 million) drink over their recommended level (21 units a week until 1995) and 6% of men (1.3 million) drink over 50 units a week - men's very risky level.

Recommended levels

Until 1995, the recommended levels were 14 units a week for women, 21 units a week for men. In December 1995, a government report, Sensible drinking, advised changing this to daily basis: 2 to 3 units a day for women, 3 to 4 units a day for men. Most research and surveys continue to refer to the weekly levels for the sake of consistency. A unit is the equivalent of a half-pint of beer or lager, a small glass of wine or a pub measure of spirits.

Women's safe levels are lower than men's are because they are physiologically more vulnerable to the effects of alcohol.

Are women drinking more?

• The proportion of women drinking over the recommended level has risen steadily since 1984, when it was 9%. In the same period, the proportion of men drinking over 21 units a week has remained fairly constant at about 27% (6 million men).
• The increase in women's drinking over the last ten years can be seen in all age groups except those over 65.
• The proportion of women drinking over 35 units a week has not changed since 1984.

Health of the Nation

Health of the Nation is the government strategy for improving the country's health. One of its targets is to reduce the proportion of women drinking 14+ units a week to 7% by the year 2005. If current trends continue this is extremely unlikely. It is one of the few areas in the strategy where results are moving away from the target. The target for men was to reduce the proportion drinking over 21 units a week to 18%. While this has not been met, there has not been an increase in men's drinking.

Young women's drinking

• Young women are more likely than older women to drink; the proportion of abstainers increases with age.
• Young women are also the most likely to drink over the recommended limits almost a fifth of 16 to 24 year-old women drink over 14 units a week, compared with 7% of women aged over 65.

Figure 1. Women's drinking by age, 1994

Which other groups of women drink more?

• Women living in the Yorkshire, Humberside and the outer metropolitan areas of the South East are most likely to drink 14+ units a week (15-16% of them do); women in Scotland are the least likely to (9% of Scottish women do)
• Women in professional households are almost twice as likely to exceed the recommended limits as those in semiskilled or unskilled households.
• Women working full-time are almost twice as likely to exceed the sensible limits as women who either do not work, or work part time.
• In general, the proportion of women exceeding the limits rises steadily as income increases.

To sum up, the executive or professional full-time employee, single or married without dependent children, in her mid-20s or early 30s is probably most at risk of an alcohol problem. Also at risk are single unmarried women under 25.(3)

Women dependent on alcohol

A recent survey found that one in twenty-five adults show signs of dependence on alcohol, and about a quarter of these were women.(4) Altogether about 1.3 million men and half a million women in Britain are dependent on alcohol. The highest rates were among 16-19 year olds, about 7% of this group show signs of alcohol dependence. This is particularly worrying, given that 16 and 17 year-olds cannot legally buy alcohol. For more about dependence, see our factsheet "One in 25 dependent on alcohol ... "

Why do women drink?

• Women who work can often afford to drink more, but the trigger to do so may be linked to the stress of juggling roles or established patterns of socialising around the workplace.
• Alcohol is a heavily marketed product and advertisers are increasingly targeting women as consumers of alcohol.
• Psychological factors often give rise to excessive drinking. Anxiety, anger, shame, guilt, grief and depression can all play a role.
• Low self-esteem, among women in general but in particular among women, who have experienced sexual or physical abuse, may be a trigger.

What do they drink?

This depends on age. For young women, beer is the most popular drink; in the middle age groups, wine has the largest share and for older women, spirits. For men, beer is the most popular drink in all age groups.(5)

How many women's deaths are related to alcohol?

Altogether about 28,000 to 33,000 people die each year from alcohol related causes. For convenience, these can be divided into:

• Deaths directly related to alcohol, such as cirrhosis and other alcohol-related liver diseases, dependence on alcohol and alcohol poisoning. These account for about 4,000 deaths a year.
• Deaths indirectly related to alcohol -drink-drive deaths, other accidents, suicide and the whole gamut of diseases to which alcohol contributes, which account for the remaining 24-29,000 deaths.(6)

The figure shows the increase in death rates from alcoholic liver disease, probably reflecting the rise in consumption in the 1970s.

Figure 2, Drink-drive convictions, England and Wales, 1995

Drunkenness offences

Again, men far outnumber women. Although there is a decline in the number of arrests for drunkenness, this is probably due as much to changing police priorities, as to any changes in drunken behaviour. Throughout the period 1983-1993, women form less than 10% of those found guilty of drunkenness. For both women and men the peak age for these offences is 19. In 1993, 5,359 women were found guilty or cautioned for drunkenness offences, compared with 54,548 men.(9)

Sources

1. OPCS (1996) Living in Britain: results from the 1994 General Household Survey. London: HMSO. All statistics in this factsheet come from this unless otherwise stated
2. Brewers & Licensed Retailers' Association (1996) Statistical Handbook, 1996
3. Breeze, E. (1985) Women and drinking. HMSO
4. Melzer H et al (1995) The prevalence of psychiatric morbidity among adults aged 16 to 64, living in private households, in Great Britain, London: OPCS
5. Department of Health (1996) Health Survey for England, 1995. London: HMSO
6. for more on alcohol related deaths, see Alcohol Concern Information Unit factsheet no.16, Alcohol and mortality
7. Abraham, P (1997) Alcohol-related mortality, Alcoholism, the newsletter of the medical Council on Alcoholism vol.16, no.2
8. Home Office (1996) Offences relating to motor vehicles, England and Wales 1995: supplementary tables.
9. Home Of Office (1995) Aspects of drunkenness, 1993