Money & Alcohol Abuse

Alcohol abuse comes at a great cost to individuals, families and society as a whole, in terms of money as well as other damages like lost jobs and domestic violence. Data regarding the financial impact of alcohol abuse reveal that alcohol is a very expensive addiction.

Expenditures

• According to a 2006 Forbes.com article, the United States spends $166 billion per year on alcohol, more money than it spends on any other vice, including illegal drugs, smoking, overeating and gambling. The World Health Organization reports that alcohol abuse costs America $184.6 billion per year, when factoring in social as well as economic costs.

Financial Impact on Families

• According to the WHO, alcohol abuse often impacts the health of the drinker's child by reducing household disposable income, which might otherwise be spent on health care or child care. Alcoholism may also result in medical expenditures and lost wages due to alcohol-related health problems and accidents, and sometimes, through the premature death of the household's sole wage earner.

Alcohol and Poverty

• The economic consequences of alcohol expenditures are especially significant in high-poverty populations. The WHO says that in the African country of Cameroon, where alcohol costs are very high in comparison to wages (one beer costs over half of the average earner's daily wage), individuals sometimes forsake paying their children's school fees because their money is spent on beer.