Better-educated women drink the heaviest

Those with degrees are almost twice as likely to drink daily

Women with degrees are almost twice as likely to drink daily as those without, but they’re also more likely to admit they have a drinking problem, according to a new study. While the same link is seen among men, the correlation is less strong, the UK Telegraph reports. In the study, researchers from the London School of Economics tracked the lives of thousands of women and men, all born in the UK during the same week in 1970, and at the time aged 39. Women’s drinking habits can even be predicted from scores in school tests from as young as five, say the authors, who suggest several reasons: better-educated women tend to have children later, putting off the accompanying responsibilities. They also have more active social lives, and often work in male-dominated offices with a drinking culture. They might have grown up in middle-class families, and seen their parents drink regularly. The study found that women with some educational qualifications were 71 per cent more likely to drink on most days compared to women with none; women with degree-level qualifications were 86 per cent more likely to do so.

Telegraph