More younger middle-class women smoking, study suggests

There appears to have been a rise in the proportion of middle class and wealthier women under the age of 45 smoking in England, research from University College London suggests.

The percentage of women in this group who smoked rose from 12% to 15% between 2013-2023, the study estimates.

Less advantaged women were more likely to smoke overall but smoking rates in this group fell from 29% to 22%.

Researchers warn smoking can affect health, fertility and pregnancy.

Every month from 2013-23, a different 1,700 adults were surveyed, including a total of 44,000 women aged under 45.

"It is concerning to find an apparent increase in smoking among women under 45 from more advantaged social groups in England," Dr Sarah Jackson, who worked on the study, from University College London, said.

"We did not see this in all adults or in men of the same age.

"These findings suggest this group may benefit from targeted intervention to prevent the uptake of smoking or relapse.

"Reducing smoking is especially important among women in this age group as smoking reduces fertility and increases the chances of complications during pregnancy, miscarriage and poor infant health."

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The researchers say more work is needed to confirm their findings and learn more about why the figures have changed.

Participants were deemed:

• more advantaged, in households whose highest earners were in professional, managerial or clerical jobs

• less advantaged, in households whose highest earners were in manual, semi- or unskilled jobs, or not working

The study, in the journal BMC Medicine, also found an increase in smokers using mainly hand-rolled, rather than manufactured, cigarettes.

The increases were greater for young women than men.

Dr Sharon Cox said: "The reasons for the possible increase in smoking among more advantaged women under 45 are unclear.

"However, it may be that financial pressures of smoking were less influential for this group.

"Some may also have moved to cheaper hand-rolled cigarettes - a trend that was most pronounced among less advantaged female smokers, 68% of whom rolled their own cigarettes by 2023."

'Devastating harm'

The proportion of women under 45 vaping rose from 5% to 20% - with a similar increase in men of the same age.

Alizee Froguel, of the charity Cancer Research UK, which helped fund the research, said: "Smoking is the biggest cause of cancer and death in the UK.

"We cannot afford to be complacent about the devastating harm tobacco use continues to cause across the whole of our society."

Ms Froguel urged the government to implement "robust measures" to prevent people taking up smoking and help them quit.

It comes as MPs in the UK backed a plan to ban anyone born after 2009 from buying cigarettes, effectively ensuring it will become law.