While residents on either side of the border enjoy tipping back
a few drinks, Canadians are slightly more likely to say they do so
than Americans. A majority in both countries says they indulge in
alcohol consumption. A full two-thirds (66%) of Americans recently
told Gallup* that they "have occasion to use alcoholic beverages
such as liquor, wine or beer …." On the other hand, about a
third (34%) of Americans insist that they are "total abstainers"
when it comes to alcohol. Almost three-quarters (74%) of
Canadians** drink alcohol, while the other quarter say they are
total abstainers.
This trend has fluctuated over the years in the United States
since Gallup first began asking the question more than 50 years
ago. In Canada, however, the number of people who say they drink
alcohol has steadily increased. In 1939, 58% of Americans admitted
to drinking alcohol -- a figure almost identical to the percentage
of Canadians who reported drinking alcohol in 1943 (59%). But over
the last few decades, Canadians have consistently tippled more than
Americans. Since the mid-1970s, at least three-quarters of
Canadians have reported that they drink alcohol. Canadian drinking
rates increased during the economic boom times of the 1980s,
reaching 82% in 1985. In the United States, drinking did not
increase at the same rate during this time period, and has actually
dipped slightly since the 1970s, when the percentage of Americans
who reported drinking peaked at 71%.
However, this is not to say that Canada currently counts a
greater social cost from alcohol use than the United States. There
are, in fact, indications to the contrary: while the number of
alcohol-impaired driving fatalities in the United States remained
fairly consistent through the late 1990s, the number of highway
deaths in Canada involving a driver who had been drinking dropped
30% between 1995 and 1999***.
Young People Drinking More in Both Countries
In the United States, one may begin to legally consume or buy
alcohol at the age of 21. In Canada, the minimum age requirement is
18 or 19, depending on the province. In both countries, younger
people are drinking more than their older counterparts. In the
United States, 18- to 29-year-olds exhibit drinking patterns
similar to those of the overall Canadian population, with 75%
reporting that they drink alcohol. In the United States, the
likelihood of respondents to say they drink declines with age --
70% of 30- to 49-year-olds do so, compared to 63% of 50- to
64-year-olds, and less than half (48%) of those 65 and older.
In Canada, members of each generation are at least slightly more
likely to say they drink than are their American peers of the same
age. Drinking also declines with age in Canada, although rates
remain fairly steady among those in their 30s, 40s and 50s.
Eighty-four percent of Canadians between the ages of 18 and 29 say
they drink alcohol. That figure declines to 74% among Canadians in
their 30s and 40s, then rises slightly to 77% for the 50- to
64-year-old age bracket. Canadian seniors seem to be indulging more
than their American senior counterparts, with 56% of them saying
they drink alcoholic beverages.
Key Points
Drinking alcohol can be as much a part of socializing as eating
food. Enjoying a glass of wine with dinner or a drink at the end of
a long workday is fairly commonplace in North American society --
even more so in Canada than in the Unites States. Given the social
nature of drinking, it makes sense that those who have more
opportunity to socialize -- such as those in the younger age
brackets -- are least likely to say they abstain from alcohol
altogether.
*Results are based on telephone interviews with 1,004 U.S.
adults, aged 18 and older, conducted July 9-11, 2002. For results
based on the total sample of adults, one can say with 95%
confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is
±3%.
**Results are based on telephone interviews with 1,004 Canadian
adults, aged 18 and older, conducted Aug. 21-27, 2002. For results
based on the total sample of adults, one can say with 95%
confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is
±3%.
***According to statistics from the Traffic Injury Research
Foundation
