The current cost-of-living crisis in the UK has hit many people hard, with households facing the biggest squeeze in living standards since the 1950s. Recent polling has found that more than half of British people (55%) feel their health has been negatively affected by the rising cost of living, including a significant impact on mental health.
One way that economic shifts like this impact our physical and mental health is through changes to behaviour: e.g., how much we smoke and drink, what we eat, and levels of exercise. In our latest briefing, we zoomed in on alcohol, and explored what evidence there is on how big economic events might affect our health through changes to drinking levels and patterns.
Trends in alcohol consumption and harm
Research has found that on average, overall alcohol consumption and harm can fall slightly during periods of economic crisis:
- In the Great Recession of 2008/9 in England, frequent drinking (defined as drinking on four or more days in the past week), fell from 27.1% in 2006 to 23.9% in 2009.
- Rates of alcohol-specific deaths appear to decline in the years following the recession, falling from 12.2 deaths per 100,000 in 2008 to 11.1 deaths per 100,000 in 2012.
Hidden pockets of risk
However, not everyone is affected equally. It is well known that our surroundings have a major impact on our health, with lives cut short because of where we are born, our employment status, and what we have access to. Deaths from alcohol-related causes are a shocking 50% higher amongst people living in the most deprived areas – despite drinking less than those in the most affluent areas.
The research we looked at found that overall population data masks trends within higher-risk groups:
- During the 2008/9 recession in the UK, despite drinking less overall , there was a significantly higher risk of heavy episodic drinking (often referred to as ‘binge drinking’) among drinkers who were unemployed.
- A systematic review found that elderly men and those with relatively low levels of education were the most likely to experience increased levels of harmful drinking.
Pathways between the economic context and individual behaviours
So what is driving these changes in consumption? One review identified international evidence for two mechanisms between economic crises and how much we drink:
- Psychological distress triggered by unemployment and income reductions can increase drinking problems. This pathway describes how economic stressors can result in higher prevalence of problem drinking for those drinking to cope with depression, anxiety, irritability and anger, and was mostly seen amongst men and people facing unemployment.
- Less money spent on alcoholic drinks due to tighter budget constraints can decrease consumption. However, there are also other ways people can adapt to tighter budget constraints, such as switching to cheaper drinks, or drinking at home rather than in pubs and bars.
What can be done
It’s important to note that factors like national policies and drinking cultures mean that economic events will have different impacts in different contexts, so the trends identified above can’t be generalised across time and location.
However, this also means that sensible policy measures can shape outcomes. For example, the dip in alcohol-specific deaths in the UK between 2008 and 2012 coincided with an alcohol duty escalator, which helped to curb the rising affordability of alcohol by ensuring alcohol tax increased by 2% above inflation every year.
Our briefing makes the following recommendations:
- Targeted measures for people experiencing unemployment during economic crises. This could include recognising the important role Jobcentres could play in offering tailored support to job seekers with complex needs.
- Population-wide measures, including facilitating access to treatment, restrictions on alcohol advertising, sponsorship and promotion, and raising prices through excise taxes and pricing policies.
Written by Poppy Hull, Senior Policy and Communications Officer, Institute of Alcohol Studies and the Alcohol Health Alliance UK.
All IAS Blogposts are published with the permission of the author. The views expressed are solely the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of the Institute of Alcohol Studies.