Have you ever heard a woman say, “My husband drives me to drink!” Well, it turns out she was right. A recent study revealed married women tend to drink more, while married men actually drink less. Throw divorce in to the mix and the roles reverse – women drink less and men drink more.
Researchers conducted a U.S. survey in 1993 of just over 5,300 middle-aged married couples and then tracked them over time up until 2004. What kind of numbers did they come up with? Here are the averages:
• Married women had 9 drinks per month
• Married men had 19.2 drinks per month
• Divorced women had 6.5 drinks per month
• Divorced men had 21.5 drinks per month
We already figured that men drink more than women, but the change in drinking corresponding to marriage is a bit of a surprise. The study author Corinne Reczek said that in some cases, women were introduced to alcohol by their husbands. “They just drink more because their husbands drink more. Women talk about how when they get divorced, they lose the person encouraging them to drink.” Reczek also feels that men usually turn to alcohol during times of stress (like divorce), while women rely on food or family members.
Do you think this study is right? And if it is… Do you think this will still hold true through the next few generations? We’re not convinced – we know plenty of women who don’t need a husband encouraging them, to throw back a few cocktails.
I’m not convinced that marriage drives women to drink more. Obviously that is what the numbers from the study show, but I know too many women that get their men to drink more.
I honestly believe that people do drink more when they are being social and that is not exclusive to marriage. When my girl friend makes plans to have a girl’s night or get together with her friends they always have a few cocktails or a bottle of wine.
An interesting content that everyone can refer through with those data. In any case maybe there are instances that they differ from other marriage.