Who Really Are The Smokers in Society?

I had a look at the website www.statistics.gov.uk to try and discover who it is in society that’s most likely to smoke. I wanted to do this because I think sometimes we’re a given a false impression (through the media and Hollywood etc) of who it is that really smokes in society.

Some of the results I’ve discovered may surprise you.

I chose the UK for this question because I thought that it would be a good gauge on Western society as a whole. Below are some findings from the General Household Survey, National Statistics Omnibus Survey, UK.

Men vs. Women: In 2006, 23% of men smoked cigarettes compared to 21% of women. Men smoked an average of 15 cigarettes a day while women smoked an average of 13 cigarettes a day.

Girls vs. Boys: In 2004, it was found that out of the children aged 11-15 (aged over 16’s counted as adults for these statistics) that Girls (10%) were more likely to smoke than boys (7%).

Marriage: People who are married are far less likely to smoke than those who are not. Of those aged 25-34, 34% of singles smoked and 35% of those living with their partner smoked. This is a vast jump when compared to those who smoke when married which only equates to 21%

Ages:
- The age group that is most likely to smoke = 20-24 year olds.
- The age group least likely to smoke = Over 60’s.
- The age group who smokes the most cigarettes = 35-59 year olds
(same for both men (16 cigarettes)
and women (14-15 cigarettes) )
- The age group most likely to have given up = Over 60’s

Socio-economic: In 2001. 33% of men and 30% of women from manual working households smoked cigarettes compared to 22% of men and 20% of women in non-manual working households.

An interesting conclusion that I discovered in the survey was that most people who smoke actually want to quit (68%). Nine out of ten people sited their health or the health of others around them (especially children) as the main reason.