Social characteristics of urban café guests in Norway

Which factors may influence the number of hours spent per week in cafés, and the amount of alcohol consumed in licensed premises, by urban café guests in Norway? In 1991 a comprehensive questionnaire survey was undertaken among 1053 visitors to 41 licensed cafés in Oslo, Norway. The five most important predictors of time spent in cafés were: household situation (beta = 0.20), occupation (beta = 0.18), personal economic resources and sex (both beta = 0.15) and age (beta = 0.11). These factors were also significant predictors of the number of days during the past 4 weeks the respondents had drunk four glasses or more of alcohol in cafés. Men, people living with others, people with poor economic resources and people not engaged in paid employment or education were the ones who reported spending the most hours per week and the most episodes of "heavy" drinking in cafés during a 4-week period. Visiting and drinking in cafés may be a way of structuring everyday life.