- Affluent children more likely to use substances
- Alcohol consumption gap increased since 2014
- Researchers call for more investigation on trends
According to the study, children from better-off homes are more likely to vape, use illegal drugs, and drink alcohol than children from poorer households.
According to the data, a higher proportion of youngsters aged 11 to 15 from rich households in England self-reported their experiences with each other than those from less affluent backgrounds.
According to the Social Mobility Commission’s examination of NHS Digital data, nearly a third (32%) of young people from higher-income homes consumed alcohol in the previous month.
This contrasts with less than a fifth (19%) of those in lower-income households.
Approximately 13% of affluent children had vaped, compared to 10% in the least advantaged group, and nearly a quarter (23%) had used drugs, compared to 17% in poorer groups.
The authors hypothesized that youngsters from higher socioeconomic backgrounds may have easier access to alcohol.
However, they did not believe this explains the findings and advocated for additional research ‘to explore these troubling tendencies’.
The paper’s authors stated that the pattern ‘goes in the opposite direction to the one many people may assume’.
They stated, “We find a reverse gradient in drinking alcohol, vaping, and illegal drugs, which means higher levels of these activities among schoolchildren from more affluent families.”
Smoking defied the trend. However, it was only slightly higher among the less affluent category, at 5% versus 4%.
The scientists stated that the data studied was from 2021, when some pandemic limitations may have influenced the results, and that the picture for more recent years is still being determined.
They reported that the alcohol consumption disparity seems to have expanded since 2014 when it was around 11% among youngsters from lower households compared to 12% in the affluent group.
However, they emphasized that affluence metrics had altered slightly between then and the 2021 data.
The paper, Childhood Origins of Social Mobility, also examined young people’s well-being and mental health.
According to the commission’s analysis of the British Household Panel Survey and Understanding Society data from 1994 to 2020, children aged 11 to 15 appear to have more self-esteem and social anxiety issues.
According to the commission, over one in ten (9%) people disagreed with the statement ‘I am a nice person’ in 2020, up from about 4% in 2010.
Rob Wilson, deputy chair of the panel, stated, “It is profoundly disturbing that youngsters are drinking alcohol, using drugs, and vaping at such a young age.
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‘Research shows that young people from more affluent families are more likely to take these substances than poor children, and the difference is growing.
We don’t know exactly why this is happening, but our analysis does show that many young people suffer from anxiety and poor mental health.
‘What we do know is that adults in higher socioeconomic groups consume alcohol more frequently than other groups, probably due to the cost, making alcohol more accessible.
‘However, we do not believe this fully explains the situation and more research is required to investigate these tendencies.’
The researchers utilized the Family Affluence Scale (FAS) to categorize children as low, medium, or high based on their responses to questions, such as whether they had their bedroom, had travelled overseas, and how many laptops and tablets they had at home.
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