PORTLAND, Ore. (MEDIA GENERAL) -– A new study by the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development says people with higher levels of education and higher socioeconomic status, particularly white men, tend to drink more than others – but the ladies are catching up.
“No single variable predicts the likelihood that a person will adopt a given pattern of consuming alcohol. People with more education and higher socioeconomic status are more likely to drink alcohol, but social gradients differ in men and women for hazardous and heavy episodic drinking,” the study said. “However, there is a fairly strong trend for women’s drinking behaviors to converge to those of men.”
According to the study, American men with a higher socioeconomic status are 27 percent more likely to drink than other men, while 17 percent of American men with a higher level of education are more likely to drink than other men.
Education level and socioeconomic status trends apply to women, as well. American women with a higher socioeconomic status are 31 percent more likely to drink than other women, while 21 percent of women with a higher level of education are more likely to drink than other women.
The study also finds that poor men and rich women are more likely to engage in “hazardous drinking.”
Read the full report here.