Drinking patterns and problems among women in paid employment

Alcohol Health & Research World, Spring, 1992 by Elsie R. Shore

Recent studies indicate that women in paid employment may consume more alcohol, but do not seem to have higher rates of heavy drinking or alcohol problems, than women who do not work outside the home. Several theories have been proposed to explain the relationship between employment and women's drinking.

For the last 10 to 15 years, women's drinking has been the focus of both scientific and popular concern. This interest arose at about the same time that the women's movement and changes in the economy opened the workplace to greater and more varied participation by women. Much of the focus has been on whether women in the workplace, especially those in occupations held predominantly by males, would begin to consume more alcohol and to experience alcohol-related problems at rates comparable to those of men.

HAS WOMEN'S DRINKING INCREASED?

To study changes in alcohol use over time, Hilton (1988) collected data from 11 national surveys conducted from 1964 to 1984. The data showed that among women, abstention rates fluctuated between 36 percent and 47 percent, but showed no evidence of decline over the 20-year period. Abstention rates for men ranged between 23 percent and 27 percent, and were relatively unchanged over the 20-year period. Among women, the prevalence of heavier drinking (defined in this study as intake of greater than 1 ounce of alcohol(1) per day) changed only slightly, from 4 percent in 1964 to 5 percent in 1984. There was a significant increase, from 17 percent in 1964 to 21 percent in 1984, in the proportion of heavier-drinking men.

In contrast to findings for the larger survey population, comparable changes in drinking patterns were found for younger women and men (aged 21 to 34) surveyed. For both women and men in this age group, percentages of those who consumed five or more drinks weekly increased over the 20-year period. Comparable increases also were observed in percentages of heavier drinkers, although a gender gap was still evident: from 1964 to 1984, the proportion of heavier-drinking younger women rose from 4 percent to 7 percent; among younger men this proportion rose from 15 percent to 23 percent.

Wilsnack and colleagues (1984) compared data from nine national surveys conducted between 1971 and 1981, and concluded that over those 10 years, "changes in women's consumption of alcohol [were] smaller, slower, and more irregular than publicity about women's drinking would suggest" (p. 1232). According to Fillmore (1984), female drinking patterns remained fairly consistent from the 1940s to the 1980s. Fillmore's analysis of studies performed in 1964, 1967, and 1979 furnishes additional support for an overall constancy in women's drinking patterns over time, but also indicates that drinking patterns of younger women may be changing: women who were 21-29 years old in 1979 showed a higher rate of heavy, frequent drinking(2) than did women in that age group in 1964 or 1967 (Fillmore 1984).

Fillmore and others have called for continued monitoring of women's drinking to determine whether this increase reflects a stable and reproducible change. If the women who were 21 to 29 years of age in 1979 maintain higher rates of heavier drinking as they grow older, important ramifications for the workplace may result, especially since these women may have entered full-time paid employment in greater numbers than did women who were 21 to 29 years of age in 1964 or 1967. If studies of subsequent groups of young women also yield higher rates of heavier drinking, such results might signify that an enduring change in women's drinking has occurred. At this time, however, explanations for, and implications of, changes in drinking behavior among younger women remain unclear.

Although future studies may alter the picture, current evidence indicates that overall patterns in women's drinking have remained consistent over the last several decades. The large national studies that supply this information have not, however, examined whether drinking patterns have changed among certain subgroups of women, such as that of women employed outside the home.

IS THERE A LINK BETWEEN EMPLOYMENT AND DRINKING?

Researchers interested in the relationship between employment and women's drinking have compared the drinking patterns and problems of women in paid employment with those of women who are not employed outside the home and with those of employed men. In general, these studies have shown that the drinking patterns of employed women are different from those of women not employed outside the home, with less abstinence, increased consumption, and greater frequency of drinking occasions observed among employed women. Despite this increase in alcohol use, the gender gap remains: employed men consume more alcohol and have more alcohol-related problems than do employed women.

A study by Parker and colleagues (1980) showed that employed women drank more frequently than did unemployed women. A later study observed slightly higher rates of heavier drinking (defined in this study as the consumption of 1 or more ounces of alcohol per day) among women in full-time paid employment than among full-time homemakers (Wilsnack et al. 1986). In addition, drinking problems (such as driving while intoxicated, inability to remember behavior while drinking, and belligerence after drinking) occurred at higher rates among employed women and among unemployed women who were seeking work than among full-time homemakers (Wilsnack et al. 1986). The same study found that women employed part time reported more symptoms of alcohol dependence and had significantly higher rates of drinking problems than did women who were homemakers or were employed full time.