UK: Alcohol Violence Affects Poorest People Disproportionately

A new report by the Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS) has found that alcohol-related violence affects the poorest in society to the greatest degree.

According to the IAS report titled “Inequalities in victimisation: alcohol, violence, and anti-social behaviour” there are stark differences regarding alcohol violence between different socioeconomic groups in England and Wales.

The study used Crime Survey data over a five-year period (2013/14 to 2017/18). Different types of alcohol related violence were analysed including domestic, stranger, and acquaintance violence – as well as alcohol-related anti-social behaviour.

According to the report,

the most deprived groups experience up to 14 times more domestic violence compared to the least deprived groups;
lower socioeconomic groups, with the most deprived groups experienced up to 7 times as many incidents of alcohol-related acquaintance violence every year compared with the most advantaged groups; and
lower socioeconomic groups were also most likely to be on the receiving end of ‘high frequency’ alcohol-related anti-social behaviour in the last year – of those who experienced alcohol-related anti-social behaviour in the lowest socioeconomic groups (social renters, those unemployed, and those on the lowest incomes), as many as half were victims of this on a weekly basis.

These findings are especially important considering the reports of increased (alcohol-fueled) domestic violence during the COVID-19 period.

Alcohol-related violence accounts for two fifths of all violence in England and Wales today, and it is the most deprived groups bearing this burden to the greatest extent.

It is vitally important policymakers take action to address not only this disparity in victimisation, but the structural drivers that lie behind it,” said Lucy Bryant, study author and Research and Policy Officer at the Institute of Alcohol Studies, as per IAS.

The report calls to remove barriers to support services for those from the most deprived communities, including substantial improvements to the provision of publicly funded domestic violence services, and in the availability across the population of alcohol treatment services, alcohol interventions in primary care and emergency services settings.

It also recommends investigating population level pricing interventions – such as minimum unit pricing – for its potential to disproportionately benefit the most deprived groups.

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