The relevance of macroeconomic conditions on concurrent and subsequent alcohol use – results from two Northern Swedish cohorts

Background: The aim of this study is to examine the relevance of macroeconomic conditions (boom vs. recession) and own labor market status on alcohol use in youth and midlife.

Method: Two Northern Swedish cohorts, born in either 1965 (boom at age 21 years) or 1973 (recession at age 21 years), included all pupils attending the last grade of compulsory school in Luleå, in 1981 (n = 990) or 1989 (n = 686), respectively. Questionnaires were completed at ages 21 and 43/39 years. Alcohol use was measured as volume of consumption (cl/year) and heavy episodic drinking (HED).

Results: Women aged 21 years during the boom (Cohort65) consumed less alcohol and were less likely to be heavy episodic drinkers at age 21 years compared to those who were exposed to recession at the same age (Cohort73). In men there were no such cohort differences. Women, and to some extent men, in Cohort65 increased their consumption at midlife, whereas this decreased for those in Cohort73. HED decreased in both cohorts, but the decrease was steeper in the recession cohort. Analyses stratified by labor market status revealed between-cohort differences in consumption among women who were either employed or students at baseline; but not for men. Alcohol use for those unemployed did not differ between the cohorts.

Conclusions: In our study, comparing two cohorts that experienced either macroeconomic boom (1986) or recession (1994) at age 21 years in Sweden, the association between individual alcohol use and concurrent unemployment in youth was not affected by macroeconomic conditions.