More women are working, smoking and drinking

Changing face of Britain: Gender gap in consumption of cigarettes and alcohol narrows as household affluence increases

JOHN McKIE

Women are catching up with men in their consumption of cigarettes and alcohol as they increasingly take on the burden of wage earning, according to statistics published yesterday.

For the 12-month period ending March 1995, a survey of British households showed that 28 per cent of men smoked, compared with 26 per cent of women. This contrasts sharply with previous surveys. In 1972, 52 per cent of British males smoked, compared with 41 per cent of women.

The gap in alcohol consumption has also narrowed. The 1994 survey showed that 27 per cent of British adult males were drinking more than the approved limit of 21 units a week, compared with 25 per cent who exceeded the limit in 1984.

The rise in female drinking is more distinct, however. In 1984, 9 per cent of women admitted to drinking more than the maximum safe amount of 14 units a week. By 1994, the figure had risen to 13 per cent.

The rise in the number of economically active women is well demonstrated. In 1974, 57 per cent of married British women were wage-earners and the figure has steadily risen to this year's all-time high of 74 per cent - the same as for single women. This contrasts with a decline in the number of men classed as economically active, from 93 per cent in 1974 to 87 per cent in 1994.

The figures are revealed in the 1994 General Household Survey, issued by the Office of Population, Censuses and Surveys. A total of 18,000 people aged 16 and over from 9,700 households were questioned.

Since its inception in 1971, the annual survey has revealed trends about British lifestyles.

Increasing affluence has seen a continuing rise in the acquisition of electronic goods. Last year, 47 per cent of households surveyed owned a compact disc player - an 8 per cent rise on the previous year. There was also a 4 per cent rise, to 77 per cent, in the number of households owning a video recorder, and a 5 per cent rise, to 67 per cent, in the number that had a microwave oven. But, in spite of this increase in consumer durables, the predicted Nineties boom in home computers has not materialised.

While the number of households with a home computer rose from 9 per cent in 1984 to 21 per cent in 1991, in 1994 only 24 per cent owned a home computer - the same as in 1993.

Various reasons for the slowdown have been put forward - particularly that children's interest of the Eighties has not yet been transferred to their parents. It is felt, however, that a boom in ownership may come in the next millennium, especially if the Internet further captures the public's imagination.

The survey also showed a slowing down in the increase of single mothers in the Nineties. While the number of mothers who were single increased from 7 per cent in 1971 to 18 per cent in 1991, for the last two years it has stayed steady at 20 per cent.

One in 10 households now has a lone parent with dependent, or non-dependent, children; 31 per cent of households were couples, married or cohabiting, with no dependent children; 25 per cent were couples with dependent children, and 27 per cent comprised people living alone.

The survey also helped to dispel the myth of a "typical British family" consisting of 2.4 children. British parents in 1994 had an average of 1.8 children, and those in 1971 had 2.0 children. The average is not thought to have been 2.4 since before the Second World War.