There is plenty of evidence that poverty is a risk factor for binge drinking and alcoholism. Epidemiological research finds that living in a disadvantaged neighborhood is a strong predictor of alcoholism (1).
It is cliched but dangerously close to the truth. Research shows that the more successful you are, the more you drink, and that men drink almost twice as much as women. A Norwegian study covering 30 European countries confirmed that out of all socioeconomic groups, rich people drink the most.
The marginal structural model estimate translates into approximately 1 extra drink per week for every 20% increase in the proportion of residents living in poverty in the neighborhood (0.98–1.12).
Among the nation's largest racial and ethnic groups, White adults aged 18 and older (68%) are more likely than Hispanic adults (59%) or Black adults (50%) to report they drink.
Belarus, a small landlocked country in Europe, consumed the greatest average number of liters of pure alcohol per capita. On average, its citizens consumed 14.4 liters each year, over 1.5 times more than Americans.
Moderate drinkers and nondrinkers report similar rates of sadness, but both groups are slightly less likely than heavy drinkers to experience sadness. Still, while heavy drinkers and nondrinkers report similar levels of positive emotions, heavy drinkers report experiencing more negative emotions than nondrinkers.
Individuals in their early to mid-twenties are the most likely to abuse alcohol and suffer from alcohol use disorders. The younger that an individual starts consuming alcohol, the more likely they are to develop alcoholism later in life. This is especially true of individuals who start drinking before 15.
Adults of higher SES are more likely to frequently engage in drinking and consume more alcoholic beverages on average than those with lower SES.
The relationship between addiction and poverty is complicated. Lower income people are slightly more likely to struggle with drug or alcohol abuse, but this doesn't necessarily mean that poverty causes addiction. In some cases, financial troubles are the result of a substance use disorder.
Lower income was associated with higher odds of abstinence and of heavy drinking, relative to light/moderate drinking. For example, belonging to a household with stable low income ($11-20,000) over 30 years was associated with 1.57 odds of abstinence, and 2.14 odds of heavy drinking in adulthood.
Famously, wealthy people drink more frequently than their less wealthy peers. Less famously, they aren't drinking less overall — they simply drink moderately, or only on occasion, while less wealthy people tend to binge-drink and use alcohol as a crutch or coping mechanism.
But they also have more of something else — sleep. Compared to those living near or below the poverty level, the rich sleep more too, according to a study by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
It arises from the insufficiency of resources to satisfy people's wants. Scarcity is ubiquitous. Rich people face scarcity when they want more than they can buy, when they can't be in two places at once, and when, accordingly, they must choose among alternatives.
Others argue that people who drink together get along and thus are able to conduct business. Another possibility is that the relationship runs the other way: Successful people drink more because they are under more pressure than others. Drinkers are not only richer than abstainers, they tend to be happier, too.
This is because: Men tend to have lower body fat ratios than women. Since alcohol is stored in body fat, men need to drink more in order to feel the substance's effects. Men's bodies produce more of the alcohol dehydrogenase enzyme.
NIAAA defines heavy drinking as follows: For men, consuming more than 4 drinks on any day or more than 14 drinks per week. For women, consuming more than 3 drinks on any day or more than 7 drinks per week.
Looking at the amount of alcohol consumed per person aged 15 years or older, the Seychelles is in first place with around 20.5 litres of alcohol drunk per person per year, according to Our World in Data; studies show that young male peer groups primarily drink high amounts of alcohol in the Seychelles.
Laws that apply anywhere in Australia
Legal drinking age – you must be 18 or older to buy alcohol or to drink alcohol in a licensed venue. Selling alcohol – it's illegal to sell alcohol to anyone under 18 or to someone who is already drunk.
While drinking can be a threat to your health, smoking is certainly worse. Unlike alcohol at low or moderate levels, there is no benefit to tobacco use at any level. When you smoke, you inhale various chemicals that can injure cells, causing both cancer and artery damage (e.g. heart attacks and strokes).
There is some evidence that drinking wine protects against certain health conditions, but the evidence that it leads to a longer life is thin, said Adrian Baranchuk, a professor of cardiology at Queen's University School of Medicine in Ontario. "Studies of alcohol are limited in their design," he said.
For men, heavy drinking is typically defined as consuming 15 drinks or more per week. For women, heavy drinking is typically defined as consuming 8 drinks or more per week.