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Home > Blogs > Uncorked > Archives > 2009 > July > 02 > Entry
Drinking habits hold steady despite recession
There are some interesting tidbits embedded in this Gallup Poll story about Americans’ drinking habits.
The anecdotal stories that we occasionally hear about folks drinking more alcohol because of the tough economic times apparently aren’t borne out by the Gallup survey.
Wine — which enjoyed a brief, shining moment in the sun when it overtook beer as the alcoholic drink of choice a few years back, then slipped behind beer again in the following year’s survey — seemed to narrow the gap with beer in the most recent poll, although with margins or error and the volatility of those numbers, I suspect it’s a tad early to proclaim a trend, even for us wishful-thinking wine enthusiasts.
Here are some of the Gallup folks’ analysis of the wine numbers, quoting from the report:
When Gallup first asked Americans about their drinking preferences in 1992, beer was the runaway leader, named by 47%; just 27% named wine. Since then, the prevalence of beer drinkers has contracted somewhat, while the percentage of wine fans has grown. The sizable gender gap evident for many years in alcoholic-beverage preferences continues today. The majority of men say they most often drink beer; half of women choose wine. There is also a significant generational difference in preferences, with younger adults favoring beer and older adults favoring wine. As a result, there is a particularly wide gulf between younger men and older women, in terms of drink preferences. Geographically, beer enjoys its greatest popularity in the Midwest. On the basis of education, wine is far more popular among people with at least some college background than it is among those who have not attended college.
Your analysis — preferably, your sober analysis — is welcome. What do you make of these numbers?
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Comments
By Sam
July 2, 2009 8:23 PM | Link to this
It is sad you all resort to drinking just because of who’s president. If you can’t be happy sober, then you can’t be happy drunk. Problems don’t go away until you face them. Yes we’re in a recession. Does that mean you’re going to give up your choice to drink or not? Come on. We’ll always have free will. Grow up.
By Just me
July 2, 2009 3:59 PM | Link to this
Drinking was not something I used to do on a regular basis, until the new messiah took office in January. Now I drink daily. I prefer wine over beer.
By chiefwino
July 2, 2009 1:15 PM | Link to this
While the consumption may not increase due to the recession, the price/bottle whether beer or wine will decrease. Also the high-end cellar owners are probably drinking down their inventory and not restocking quite as quickly until their 401K have recovered.
By Tony
July 2, 2009 12:50 PM | Link to this
I started drinking heavily when GB was in office jus to get through those 8 grueling years.
By Oh Really
July 2, 2009 12:45 PM | Link to this
Well, people are probably drinking more. You almost have to with our current President. In a matter of a few months we will be working for free bc he will tax us to the point of no return.