Matt Yglesias highlights the following U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics trivia fact that educational attainment is strongly correlated with alcohol expenditures:
Yglesias asks whether that means people with many years of schooling are drinking more or just drinking fancier stuff.
Increasing levels of education correlates with increased income and, presumably, more disposable income. As people attain more education and income, they’re likely to switch from cheap beer (Miller Lite) and cheap booze (Seagrams gin, Jim Beam bourbon) to better and more expensive beer (say, Dogfish Head 120) and booze (Bombay Sapphire gin, Macallan 12 Scotch). Also, they’ll drink wine that comes in bottles not boxes. Additionally, they’ll be more likely to drink at bars and pricey restaurants, thinking nothing of paying $6 for a pint of beer, $9 for a glass of wine, or $12 for a cocktail. Alternatively – and not exclusive of the above–they’re more likely to have high stress jobs and drink on a daily basis.
Then Kevin Drum dug up some data from the Bureau of Labor statistics, which showed that weekly alcohol expenditures increase strongly with income. Here's how it breaks down:
- Expenditures on beer double between the lowest and highest income quintiles.
- Expenditures on wine quintuple.
- Expenditures on "other" (mostly mixed drinks, I assume) also quintuple.
- Expenditures on alcohol consumed at home go up 170% while expenditures on alcohol consumed elsewhere go up 600%.
Kevin's conclusion: "...wealthier people might drink more alcohol than poor people, but probably not by much. Mostly they just buy more expensive stuff at home as well as more pricey drinks in bars and restaurants."
Does that sound right to you?
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Maybe we're just better informed and realize just how screwed we are and just want to numb our minds more.
you are right on the money...
well said!
I'll drink to that.
Looks like a "yup" fest, so yup from me too.
I buy 3 times that amount per year. I have no degree but I make over six figures. Go figure.
So, you make 7 figures then?
3x more than what? Hogwash Mr 7 digit.
Haha! The 7 figures comment was brilliant.
The OP was spot on btw.
T-O-O-L
My wife has no job, a high school education, no liver problems (yet, checks it every 6 months), and a dumba$$ husband-she consumes $2600 worth of Jim Beam a year, on my upper 5-figure salary
Bingo!!
I totally agree with you, there. I'm sure not in all cases, but damn right in many.
Proof that education still has its value. Cheers!
Trying to recapture all of that time we spent getting an education and realizing what mostly a waste it was when we could have been drinking all along.
Exactly what I was thinking as I read the article (while enjoying an expensive beer).
Well yeah, of course a millionaire rather spend 5000$ on a bottle of wine than 5$ at the local liquor shop.
You hit the nail on the head.
And people with more money obviously have better taste buds. Seriously, who drinks wine from a box?
bingo daddio
Nice try poser.....
I'll drink to that!
this deserves a toast
God Bless Sam C. and his Dogfish. We Love You!!!!!!!!
Ill second that!!!! With a glass of wild turkey
is this what i pay taxes for? for the U.S.dept. of Statistics to claim months of years of work?
Excuse me, but this is the most useless study there is!
Who cares about this to pay our taxes on this junk? And if you think it was private sector study – would you pay your own money (lots of it) to fund something like this? And whoever wrote it is a "scientist" – ha ha.
I beg to differ. I am highly educated and I barely ever drink. In fact, The crazy rednecks in my family are the ones who drink up every dime they can. My cousin makes 100k a year and over half of that is spend in booze a year. He never finished high school. Drives truck and every other word is the F word.
Expenditure figures don't necessarily define drinking habits. If people of high-end incomes spend more on alcohol, it can be explained that they buy quality produces, socialise a lot, like dinning out or having guests at home. One the other hand one can never dismiss the possibility of addiction due to alcohol excesses.
No kidding?I thought I read that in the article too!
What a pointless study. I imagine the graph would look the same for most any consumer commodity. I'm sure as income goes up, people spend more on food, entertainment, clothes etc.
An excellent point and entirely correct.
I still wonder, though, how much of this is caused by taxes on alcohol. Taxes raise the prices across the board for everyone. Do high alcohol taxes make alcohol less accessible to the poor? Whether or not that is a good thing is another question. But, if it is true, is it - be it good or bad - fair to the poor?
Dumb question. Life isn't fair. If the poor want to drink better stuff, go get an education instead of crying about life being unfair.
a poor person complaining that they cant afford alcohol because of alcohol taxes should be the least of their worries
You turned this into a RW talking point on taxes? Nicely done sir, albeit a bit of a mind-numbing stretch... I'll have whatever Chuck is drinking.
@ pltu That would mean that the old "Higher Education" poster with the luxury cars will have to be replaced with bottles of Tanqueray 10 gin and Glenfiddich scotch...
Bogus statistics...lying with statistics
It eases the pain of student loans.
More educated=more money=can afford more booze.
* better quality booze.
I call BS, there is no way that anyone has more time after undergrad to drink like a champ. Maybe they have more money to buy that 30 year old bottle of scotch, but still...no way.
I agree, very bogus statistics. Try buying a 30 rack of beer every week. It adds up. Then you start throwing in rum and vodka. Way more than what they show. Kevin Drum, you sir are retarded.
So . . . if the high school drop-out buys a case of beer for $24 and drinks the whole thing, he's drinking more booze than me if I buy a $50 bottle of wine and consume the entire thing? Does quality count for nothing in this study?
did you not even read the story? you just read the headline, didn't you??- the story factors in that possibility, as a matter of fact the story challenges us to ponder that fact. are you even thinking?
Wait, those figures are per YEAR?! Looks like I have a problem...
Oh dear too – I really can't believe those are annual numbers.
Yeah, I was thinking the same thing!! I range from about $250 to $700 month to month depending on what's going on.
$700 per month?!? I think you and I should be friends. haha
The study must include non-drinkers, also. $700 / year is a very low figure for someone who enjoys nice beer, wine, or spirits on a regular basis.
Wow! I must be one of the smartest people in the world if this article is true!
The more education people have, the higher their income. The higher their income, the more they spend. They're not buying more booze, they're buying better booze. The same correlation could be made on any product type.
not ANY product type, but many...yes. Think Ramen noodles, Easy Mac, or pb&j's.. or even off-brand foods vs name brand foods. As income goes up, one generally acquires a more expensive taste on goods and therefore the consumption of inferior goods (such as those listed previously) decreases as income rises. Which is also noted in this article, miller lite -> dogfish head, or Seagrams -> Bombay Sapphire.
800 bucks is like one month of boozing for me. annual? haha. learn how to drink kids.
yo! cool bro! you are such a champ bro! 800 dollars bro! you rock bro! good job!
"He who increases knowledge, increases sorrow"....perhaps those with more knowledge of their world in general have an increased need for alcohol due to an increased level of sorrow they feel for knowing too much of how our world currently is.
Or it could just be that they buy more expensive booze!
I have a bachelor's degree and there is no way I spend around $600/year on alcohol.
You trying to throw the curve, MightyMoo? Stop drinking like a retard.
You don't spend $600/year on booze?? You must be the most boring person ever. What do you do on the weekend?
i have a master's and i make up for the deficiency in your expenditure....it's an average after all...
It's Friday night....let's par-tay!!!!
the good stuff isn't cheap!
What a bunch of lightweights. Transfer to the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee and we'll show you how it's done.
People who make more spend more?!? Stop the press!!!
Well, I know the only thing I learned in college that I still use today was how to drink, so this makes perfect sense.
Correlation does not prove causation, and yet this article assumes that it's the higher education that leads to the increased expenditure on alcohol. Who is to say it's not the other way around? I say, drink more booze and get smarter!
seems low to me
Stupid stats. I'd like to see the difference between the percentage of educated/non-educated annual income spent on booze.
Money, money, money all a backseat to unquantifiable (till too late) destruction of the liver, relationships, lost
sunny upbeat mornings, etc. Stopping all boozing 6 years ago was the best thing I've ever done in my life.
Give me the stress full in the face, nobody is perfect in this world and I want to fall down and stand up
again-straight ...without the drunken wobble.
Wealthier people spend more money on things!
oops...
forgot to mention: more $ doesn't necessarily equate to More booze
but you guys know that. the reporter is just trying to influence you (or really is a moron)
I won't even try to recreate my first post that was actually not allowed for some reason
I was just trying to point out that if you have more money, (which usually comes with more education) then you probably buy more expensive booze.
Kevin is right in his conclusion. I do a lot of trade analysis for Diageo and between demographics, the amount of alcohol consumed is pretty consistent but the quality is certainly correlated with wealth. What I do typically see however is the more educated, the less beer is consumed while wine tends to skyrocket up. Most of this seems like common sense till you have to actually quantify it.
Would be a relevant statistic if it was money spent on alcohol expressed as a percentage of total income. I bet the data would then show the opposite.
That's because poor people drink natty ice and people who are well off drink expensive scotch.
Another way to cut federal spending–get rid of useless studies like this one and leave medicare alone.
How is this at all surprising? I'd also bet that income, home size, and car value rise with education as well! This says nothing about actual alcohol consumption.
would like to see ounces of booze consumed per $ spent on booze, broken out by BLS occupantional code.
From reading the comments I know that I'm not the only one thinking: Wait! That's the annual figure, not the monthly figure? Uh oh. OK; yes, it's probably stress... some... at least slightly noble thing.
Did Captain Obvious order this study? Anyway, it is true. My wife is a nurse and works for several doctors and I do love going to their parties and going out with them. Only the best stuff. Otherwise I don't really drink much as I have too much to do. I just spend my cash on the herb.
Wow, who would have guessed that. What's next, a study that shows that a person who earns more than $500,000 a year is likely to live in a bigger house than someone who earns less than $20,000 a year.
Upon further thought, I've realized that apparently... I should soon be granted an honorary doctorate.
I'm not a doctor, but I drink like one!
Shot of listerine anyone?
And your point is?? Spend your time on something important.
It sounds to me like we're wasting tax dollars on these useless studies! The voting public is responsible. They need to stop going to the polls drunk!
Frank Sinatra: " I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day."
I have the answer. We "Advanced Degree" people just need to get more schnookered more often so we can forget that we are up to our eyeballs in student loan debt.
More income, better toys. (Why is this news?)
I'll bet people with more educuation drive more expensive cars and smoke better cigars, too.
Never thought I drank like a PHD...LOL..
Garbage in, garbage out. I haven't seen the study, but I can guarantee that the data are trash. I have yet to meet a social scientist with a lick of sense...
I think a better measure would be how much alcohol is CONSUMED per level of education. After all, you can just about buy a keg of PBR for the price of a bottle of Dom.
As another person said on this....Cuz they realize they get screwed. Definitely. Usually people who drink booze are miserable. USUALLY.
Okay. We have a study that says people with more education spend more on booze. Not too surprising...a bottle of fine cabernet at a fancy restaurant with a 200% markup will set you back more than a six pack of Bud chugged while sitting in front of the tube. And another study that says people with a higher income spend more on booze...even less surprising. So the question is, of course, are the more afluent people drinking more, or just drinking fancier stuff? There's absolutely nothing in the studies to answer that question. Useless studies...stupid article!
My Mother used to say the only difference between rich drunks and poor drunks was the rich drunks paid more for their liquor.
Pretty sure they just have more money to spend and usually more brain stressful jobs
Now do it properly, as a percentage of overall income, and I bet you'll see an incredibly steep decline as education increases.
$600 for beer is certainly a larger % of income for lower economic people. It doesnt take a genious to figure out that income goes up with education. Im so glad I make enough so that I don't have to drink Miller lite!
Before I finished my undergraduate work, I spent six days per week, 12 hour shifts, in the production facility of a biotechnology company. I still didn't make very much. Now, with grad school behind me, I make three times as much money, and work a third less.
Wow, what a shocker; I have more free time, and more money...I'll bet educated people spend more on cars, too. Am I alone in feeling a little insulted by this article? Here's another interesting piece of trivia worth highlighting, while we're at it. The Alpine Banana Slug has the longest reproductive organ in the animal kingdom, with respect to its size...
NOw that I am retired, I have had the time to put my income and advanced degrees to work– all in the name of helping out the wheat farmers of America and the economy in general.
I have perfected the process of turning beer wine and alchohol into urine. There is not a sector of the economy that has not been positively effected by this work. Oduma should be thanking me for my contributions to our economy!
And the more money you make, the more you will likely spend on your home, clothes, cars, jewelry, vacations, golf clubs, electronics, beds, food, wedding....
They really needed to do a study to determine that people who make more money drink better beer??? I could have told you that... we didn't drink canned miller lite in college because its "tastes great, less filling". we just didn't the financial means to drink real beer.
Dang. Just spilled my beer on my CPU. Does replacing a beer soaked computer count as a booze expense?
I am sure there is a PhD out there who likes to wash down a couple of hot pockets with a six pack of genesee cream ale.
I have a Bachelor's Degree and my wife has a Master's Degree and she does drink just a bit more than I do.
Well no duh! I sure as heck hope that tax payer $$ did not fund this study, any half edumicated nitwit coulda told you this!
CHEERS, SPEND more not DRINK more!
I have a bar that would shock most people, however my use of said bar is limited to at most 2 drinks a week, it is difficult to be productive while nursing a hangover, I learned this early in life. My liver is still recovering from university days.
PROOF-! 3 bootles of my favorite scotch and the yearly budget of $600 been blown, if I was looking for a BUZZ then go for $4 box wine, the $600 would net you almost half a box a day. Headlines can be misleading, understand what you read!
Country pubs are dieing out because the people with less money arnt going out, only the cities are surviving and they have more money on average...it doesnt take a scientist to tell this tale..a 4th grader could do it...hell sesame street probably has something about this from decades ago
My roommate is on disability and a pension..... she drinks like a friken sailor on leave.
Tactical Nuclear Penguin and other craft beers from Brew Dog! Currently listening to "Pass the Courvoisier."
That is exactly the situation in my family. As we grew more comfortable financially, our taste for finer wines and more expensive bourbon, scotch, etc., grew.
MBA or graduate school with studies in the Master Brewer's program are options at some universities across the country.
No surprise. Here's the deal, as explained by Lisa Simpson about 18 years ago:
Smarter and more educated people know more. The more you know, the sadder you are. It's an inverse correlation.
And for some of us the sadder you are, the more you drink. Especially these days.
B.S. Well.... DUH! Of course people who have higher degrees spend more money on alcohol; the people who have higher degrees, on average, also make more money. Thus the TELLING thing to show would be a bar graph not how much money is spent a year on booze, but what percentage of the income is spent on alcohol.
Which, I'm going to hypothesize that the lowest educated (and smallest earners) spend the highest proportion of their paycheck on booze, and as the higher the education level rises, the fraction of paycheck that goes to alcohol decreases.
Furthermore, not all alcohol is the same price in terms of Alcohol % / $$$. Wine, champagne, and fine liquor are more popular with wealthy, highly educated people than cheap 40 oz. of malt liquor which are quite popular with lower educated and lower income people. And for similar alcohol contents you'd have to pay 3 to 300 times as much for the same volume of alcohol, that the rich people are drinking. Thus poor people probably are paying little for a large amount of alcohol, while the rich are paying a lot for a very fine, smaller amount of alcohol.
Thus, this analysis is probably wrong because they DO NOT take into account several key variables. A more comprehensive study needs to be done taking into account money spent on alcohol as a fraction of income, and the quality/price of alcohol that is being bought, before any conclusions are drawn.
Hear hear!
You know what, they kinda miss the point in the statistics. Let me lay this out in relation to my personal life and work. I work a highly ungratifying and thankless job as a night auditor at a hotel. It's not a good job, but I'll still take it in a heart beat. My boss on the other hand makes a much higher pas scale and is on salarie. You can regularly see me working anywhere between 40-70 hours a week as compared to her 30-45 hours a week. Even given the drastic difference in hours, she still takes home far more than I do and spends a LOT on booze. I only buy about 16 bottles of wine a year at prices around $10. Long story short, lower working class people spend less on alcohol because they have to work harder to get by and those who make more spend more because they have the money to do it.
Introducing the new line of scholarships financed by distilleries and brewers! And we all thought college students were doing all the guzzling. They were just practicing for their future of rigorous professional drinking.
I don't know if it's to relieve the stress but it's certainly a stupid way to be spending money! Educated people should know better! http://www.insuranceadjustertraining.net
This is a very hard statistic to discern based off of our 'isolated' studies. I personally believe that a person who 'wants' to drink, regardless of their income, will FIND a way to drink, as such, investing their money into the alcoholic product itself. I think this article is a complete phony.
Let's all remember that correlation does not imply causation. It seems as though there is a lurking variable in this study–household income. It's well-known that those with more education tend to garner higher wages. It also makes sense that those who make more money per annum have more disposable income and are able to spend more on alcohol than their lesser-earning counterparts.