DRINKING may boost your waistline but research from University College Cork(UCC) claims that moderate consumption of alcohol can also increase your pay packet.
A paper presented by Dr Gillian Ormond of UCC at an economics conference last week suggests that moderate drinkers earn more than teetotallers.
Using a 2007 national Slan survey — a poll of 10,000 people documenting lifestyle and attitudes — Ormond discovered that while the difference in income between moderate and heavy drinkers was small, there was clear evidence that tipplers who drink within the recommended weekly limits of 14 standard drinks for women and 21 for men, have higher earnings.
She said that similar research in other countries had reached the same conclusions.
Ormond said there were various reasons why the phenomenon might exist. “There is certainly international research suggesting that moderate drinkers enjoy better health than non-drinkers,” she said. Ormond said sensible drinkers may also be perceived as being more sociable. “Whether it’s true or not, there may be a perception that someone who drinks is more sociable and may network more often in situations where people are drinking.”
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Ormond’s paper, presented last week at the 11th Irish Society of New Economists Conference in NUI Galway, has been challenged by Alcohol Action Ireland (AAI). Dr Bobby Smyth, a board member of AAI and a clinical senior lecturer at Trinity College, said he would be concerned at any impression given of benefits to drinking. “First, I would point out that any level of drinking increases your risk of cancer,” he said. “I would also question the causality of the research. Just because non-drinkers were found to have earned less doesn’t necessarily mean that drinking makes you earn more. One may not be caused by the other.”
Smyth, who said he would love to believe that his own drinking was in some way beneficial to his health or earning capacity, also pointed out that teetotallers were not a homogenous group. “There is some international research suggesting they are less healthy, but many people do not drink because of underlying medical conditions or because they are former alcoholics,” he said. “Teetotallers are not necessarily a group of people who refrain from alcohol by choice.”
At the conference last week, Ormond said recent policy recommendations on the control of alcohol consumption in Ireland make no reference to the potential benefits of moderate levels of alcohol consumption. She said the National Substance Misuse Strategy Steering Group had focused on the further taxation of alcohol and introducing a social responsibility levy, among other recommendations.
“Clearly, the adoption of many of the policy recommendations as set out by the steering group will have a negative impact on some individuals who are currently moderate consumers of alcohol,” she said. “Such policy approaches may result in them reducing their levels of consumption further which may cause them harm, hence an ethical issue arises.”