An analysis by birth cohort of alcohol consumption by adults in Great Britain 1978-1998

The General Household Survey for Great Britain has, since 1978, in even numbered years, included questions on alcohol consumption. A cohort analysis was applied to these sequential cross-sectional data.

Analysis confirms that, after about age 20 years, both men and women, as they grow older, become more likely to be non- or very light drinkers. Men are also less likely to be heavy drinkers as they grow older, but for women the picture is less clear-cut. Cohort effects can also be discerned, but are much less obvious than for smoking. There is a general trend for members of later cohorts at any age to be less likely to be non- or very light drinkers and more likely to be heavy drinkers, than members of earlier cohorts. However, for men, this trend seems to have ended with those born from about 1927 to 1931, while for women the trend has continued and possibly become stronger in cohorts born after 1927-1931.