The more we earn, the more often we drink…gulp

Daily News

By Daniel McDonald

March 9, 2016

By one measure, it’s the highest earners who are the biggest imbibers.

Almost one in five Britons who earn at least 40,000 pounds (nearly $57,000) are likely to imbibe at least five days a week, compared with just 8% of those who earn less that £10,000 ($14,200) a year, according to data published Tuesday by the U.K.’s Office for National Statistics, which asked people how much they had drunk in the past week.

And the link between money and drinking is similar in the U.S. Some 78% of those with an annual household income of $75,000 or more say they drink, compared with 45% of those with a household income of less than $30,000.

The Gallup poll didn’t ask how many were likely to drink five days a week. But it did find that, among survey subjects who drink, 47% of those with household incomes of $75,000 had had a drink within the past 24 hours, compared with 18% of those in households earning less than $30,000.

The link between big money and big drinkers: https://t.co/APY7fUzcjV pic.twitter.com/CnfrTgfDWS

— MarketWatch (@MarketWatch) March 9, 2016

But while those with bigger paychecks may consume alcohol nearly every day, they are less likely to be binge drinkers. The U.K.’s regular drinkers tend to be between 25 and 64 years old; binge drinkers (those who drank more than 14 units of alcohol in their heaviest drinking day) tend to be between 16 and 24 years old, according to the ONS.

The U.K. government recommends that adults regularly drink no more than 14 units of alcohol a week — or six pints of beer with a 4% alcohol content, six midsize glasses of 13% wine or 14 standard-measure (25-milliliter) glasses of a 40% spirit. Those units should be spread out over at least three days, meaning that one day’s drinking shouldn’t routinely top 4.67 units.

More about Anglo-American drinking habits:

In Britain, better-off drinkers of any kind tend to be men: 77% of those who’d had even a drop of alcohol that week were men. By contrast, two-thirds of the regular drinkers in the lowest income group were women. In the U.S., 69% of men of any income level said they drink, compared with 59% of women, according to Gallup.

Britain has become a nation of wine drinkers. Nearly half drank wine (including bubbly) on their heaviest drinking day of the week, compared with 40% who listed regular-strength beer, stout, lager or cider. (Respondents could list more than one type of drink.)

Those most likely to drink more than 14 units of alcohol in one day live in Wales and Scotland. Those who said they don’t drink at all are most likely to live in London.

In the U.S., richer drinkers also prefer wine over beer, but just barely (38% to 36%). Beer is most popular with those earning between $30,000 and $74,999 (44%), according to Gallup. Wine is the preferred drink among college graduates, while those who have a high-school diploma or less prefer beer.

This article originally appeared on Marketwatch.