Smoking among middle-class women under 45 is on the rise

THE number of middle- and upperclass women taking to smoking is on the rise, research suggests.

The study by University College London found that while rates of smoking have fallen for working-class women over the last decade, a different shift has been seen among the affluent.

Researchers examined data from October 2013 to October 2023 for 197,266 adults aged 18 and over, of whom 44,052 were women aged 18 to 45. Smoking prevalence among working-class women and those in lower socioeconomic groups fell from 28.7 per cent to 22.4 per cent across the decade.

In contrast, smoking prevalence rose from 11.7 per cent to 14.9 per cent among women aged 18 to 45 classed as more advantaged, where the highest household earners were in professional, managerial or clerical jobs.

The same was not true for men in all classes, with their rates staying stable across the decade.

The data were drawn from the Smoking

Toolkit Study, an ongoing monthly survey of a nationally representative sample of adults in England.

Furthermore, vaping among all women aged 18 to 45 has more than tripled in a decade, rising from 5.1 per cent to 19.7 per cent between 2013 and 2023, researchers found.

Lead author Dr Sarah Jackson, of UCL’S institute of epidemiology and health care, said: “It is concerning to find an apparent increase in smoking among women under 45 from more advantaged social groups in England.

We did not see this in all adults or in men of the same age.”

The team said further research is needed into whether the smoking increase among more advantaged women relates to those who have never smoked or they are former smokers taking up the habit again.

Senior author Dr Sharon Cox said: “The reasons for the possible increase in smoking among more advantaged women under 45 are unclear.

“However, it may be that financial pressures of smoking were less influential for this group.” The study also found that the proportion of female smokers aged 18 to 45 who said they mainly or exclusively smoked hand-rolled cigarettes increased from 40.5 per cent to 61.4 per cent across the decade.

The team said the cost of living crisis may have affected more disadvantaged women’s finances and desire to smoke.

They said the pandemic “exacerbated gender inequalities, with women experiencing higher rates of job loss”. The team wrote: “These financial pressures probably contributed to the reduction in smoking prevalence among women from less advantaged social grades and encouraged those who did not stop to switch to hand-rolled products as a way to afford to continue to smoke.”

On Tuesday, MPS backed Rishi Sunak’s plan to ban anyone born after 2009 from buying cigarettes, despite opposition from some Tory MPS. The Tobacco and Vapes Bill passed by 383 votes to 67.

The study was funded by Cancer Research UK and published in BMC Medicine.