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Why the highest earners are the most likely to knock back the largest amount of booze
Last updated at 01:52am on 04.04.08
Well-heeled and well-oiled: Sophisticated professionals drink much more than government guidelines recommend
It found that more than half of all men being paid more than £1,000 a week exceed the Government's alcohol limits.
When the figures were broken down they showed 51 per cent of men and 47 per cent of women on high incomes drink more than the recommended levels.
Those on low incomes are much less likely to go over the limit of 21 units a week for men and 14 for women.
A unit is the equivalent to half a pint of beer or one small glass of wine.
Fewer than a third of men and only a fifth of women on £200 or less a week exceed the limits, the report for the Office for National Statistics said.
It added: "In general, the higher the level of income, the more likely men and women were to exceed to recommended amounts."
The report, entitled Diversity and Different Experiences in the UK, drew on calculations developed earlier this year on drinking habits among different income groups.
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These showed that men in higher managerial jobs drink on average 22.9 units a week. Women in higher managerial jobs are drinking on average 12.5 units a week, double that of women in routine jobs.
One in five binge drinks once a week, a higher proportion than any other group.
Yesterday's report, which also found that those with middle-range incomes eat more crisps – or "processed potatoes" – than anyone else, said that 44 from every 100 men in managerial or professional jobs are likely to drink over the recommended limits on a regular basis – at least one day in a week.
This compares to 35 out of 100 men in routine or manual occupations. Among women, 40 out of 100 drink too much at least once a week compared with 26 from every 100 in the routine and manual class.
On average, those in managerial and professional jobs drink 15.1 units a week, against 11.6 for those in routine and manual occupations.
The findings follow warnings that large numbers of drinkers are consuming more alcohol than they think.
Such underestimation is particularly common among women, whose health is more vulnerable to large quantities of alcohol than men.
The miscalculation is a result of the increasing size of wine glasses and the increase in bar measures of wine.
An academic study last year said more than a quarter of residents in the most prosperous parts of the country are drinking at hazardous levels.
Seven of the top ten hotspots for alcohol consumption were in wealthy Surrey. The borough of Runnymede, which includes Chertsey and Virginia Water, was at the top.
Reader views (2)
No mention here about our "gulping" government ministers spending on their allowances... Why's that?
Perhaps the people doing the survey were paid to "stay away" from Westminster?
- Fraser, Telford Park
Bearing in mind the rate of tax on alcohol in this country, you need to be a high earner to be a heavy drinker.
- Martin Fielding, London, England
