Alcohol Abuse and Addiction Surge Among Middle-Aged Women

It’s no secret that Americans are drinking more in recent years, but on the heels of last week’s news that “there is no safe level” of alcohol consumption, what’s worth noting is who—among those who are drinking more—may be in the greatest danger.

The answer to that question may surprise you: those at greatest risk are primarily white, educated, upper middle-class women in their 40’s and 50’s.

Put in more graphic terms, “drinking is killing twice as many middle-aged white women as it did 18 years ago,” The Washington Post reported in 2016.

As illustration, consider these revealing statistics:

• Women now drink as much alcohol as men—they even outpace men in their consumption of wine.
• Between the years 1992-2007, the number of middle-aged women diagnosed with alcohol use disorders “tripled,” according to journalist Gabrielle Glaser, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. She added as context that “two-thirds of American women” say they are “regular drinkers.”
• The rate at which white women ages 35 to 54 are dying from alcohol increased by 130 percent in the period 1999-2015 (according to the same Washington Post article cited above).
• Meanwhile, binge drinking is on the rise among older women (while holding steady among older men), CBS News reported last year.