• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Institute of Alcohol Studies HomepageInstitute of Alcohol Studies

Bringing together evidence, policy and practice to reduce alcohol harm

  • Home
  • About us
    • People
    • Our strategy
    • Small Grants Scheme
    • Networks
    • Vacancies
    • Contact us
  • Publications
  • Explore by Topic
    • Alcohol across society
    • Availability
    • Consumption
    • Economy
    • Health
    • Marketing
    • Price
    • The alcohol industry
    • Transport
    • Violence and crime
    • Help and support
  • News & Comment
    • Latest news and events
    • Blog
    • Alcohol Alert
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • See all
  • Search
News

Parental alcohol misuse harms more children than illegal drugs, says Children’s Commissioner

11th September 2012

A new report recommends that the government should pay as much attention to alcohol misuse within families as it does to drug misuse.

The study – commissioned by the Community Research Company for the Office of the Children’s Commissioner – investigates the impact of alcohol on the children of parents who misuse the substance.

The research highlights the following issues:

  • 30% live with at least one parent who is a binge drinker (between 3.3-3.5 million children);
  • 5% live with a ‘problematic’ drinker, defined as ‘hazardous’ or ‘harmful’ (nearly 3 million children);
  • 6% live with a dependent drinker (over 700,000 children);
  • around 79,000 babies under 1 in England are living with a
    parent who is classified as a ‘problematic’ drinker… equivalent to
    93,500 babies in the UK.

Despite these findings, Children’s Commissioner for England Dr Maggie Atkinson says the problem of alcohol misuse within families is not taken as seriously as that of drug misuse. Dr Atkinson urges the government to act on the recommendations given in the report, so we might “prevent some children from losing their childhoods”.

A copy of the report, titled ‘Silent Voices’, can be accessed here. (pdf 1.2mb)

More news items
Kings Fund report warns of widening health inequalities
IAS supports Scottish Government in Europe

Footer

IAS is proud to be a member of

  • Twitter
  • Bluesky
  • Spotify
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn

Contact us

©2025 Institute of Alcohol Studies

Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok