Drinking in England and Wales in 1987: An enquiry carried out by social survey division of OPCS on behalf of the Home Office in association with the department of health

Abstract

The survey, was carried out to provide baseline information about alcohol consumption and patterns of drinking in England and Wales prior to the implementation in August 1988 of the 1988 Licensing Act, which extended the hours during which licensed premises are permitted to sell alcohol Information about alcohol consumption was obtained by asking respondents detailed questions about their drinking on each of the seven days before the day of the survey interview. Alcohol consumption is presented in this report in standard units: one unit is equivalent to half a pint of beer, a single measure of spirits (116 gill) a glass of wine (about 4.5 fluid ounces) or a small glass of fortified wine (2 fluid ounces). Over two thirds of the sample had had an alcoholic drink during the week before they were interviewed, and only 7%, said that they never drank at all (the most common reason for not drinking was simply dislike of the taste of alcohol). Overall, those in the sample had drunk an average of 9.4 units of alcohol in the previous week — that is, just over 4.5 pints of beer, or the equivalent in other types of drink. This overall figure conceals a threefold difference in consumption between men and women — men had drunk an average of 14.5 units compared with an aver age consumption of 4.8 units for women.