DRINKING  IN NEW ZEALAND

National Surveys Comparison 1995 & 2000

 

Ruth Habgood, Sally Casswell, Megan Pledger and Krishna Bhatta,  

 

Alcohol & Public Health Research Unit, November 2001

LOCATION OF DRINKING

Respondents were asked how often and what quantities they drank in a range of different drinking locations.

 

Figures 16 and 17 show the proportion of the total volume of alcohol consumed by each sex at each drinking location in 2000. 

 

Figure 16

 

Proportion of the total volume of alcohol consumed by men at each drinking location, 2000

Note: Miscellaneous combines other bars, domestic flights, theatres and movies and marae. Their combined total is less than 1%.

Figure 17

Proportion of the total volume of alcohol consumed by women at each drinking location, 2000

Forty-five percent of all the alcohol consumed by women was drunk at home and for men, the proportion was 39%. Other people’s homes were also an important location, accounting for around one fifth of consumption for women and slightly less for men. Men favoured public drinking locations more than women. Thirty percent of the men’s consumption and almost one quarter (23%) of the women’s occurred in licensed premises (pubs/hotels/taverns/bars, nightclubs, sports clubs, other clubs and restaurants/cafés). 

Figures 18 and 19 show the total volume of alcohol consumed in heavier drinking occasions by men and women, apportioned by location. 

More of the alcohol consumed in people’s own homes was being consumed in heavier drinking occasions in 2000 than in 1995 (36% in 2000 compared with 27% in 1995). There was also an increase in the proportion of alcohol consumed in other people’s homes and in cars that was consumed in heavier drinking occasions (from 52% to 62% in others’ homes  and from 47% to 69% in cars).

The locations which were over-represented in heavier drinking occasions for both men and women were pubs, nightclubs, motor vehicles, outdoor public places, marae and special events. Other people’s homes were over-represented for men, and other bars and other places for women.[1]  The locations which were under represented in heavier drinking occasions for both men and women were people’s own homes and restaurants and cafés.

Figure 18

Proportion of total volume consumed in heavier drinking occasions by men by location, 2000

Note: Miscellaneous combines restaurants, other bars, other places, marae, theatre/movies and domestic flights.

Figure 19

Proportion of total volume consumed in heavier drinking occasions by women by location, 2000

Table 1 presents the percentages of male and female drinkers who consumed alcohol at each location during the previous 12 months. For those who drank at the location, the table also shows the average number of times people drank there in that period and the average typical quantity (in millilitres of absolute alcohol) consumed in each location.^[1]

 

About 90% of men and women drank in their own homes and other people’s homes. Fewer men drank in other people’s homes in 2000, but women drank there more often, and both men and women increased the quantities they drank there from five to six drinks for men and from three to four drinks for women.

 

There was no change in the proportion of people who drank in their own homes, but both men and women who did so increased both how often they drank and the typical quantities they consumed there. There was an increase from four to five drinks for men and from just under three to a little over three and a half drinks for women.

 

The combined category of restaurants, cafés and coffee shops were also popular with both men and women, but there was a decrease in the percentage drinking in these locations in 2000. While those who patronised these locations drank there as often, the quantities they drank went down (perhaps reflecting the greater availability of café type locations, which were included in this category) in 2000.

 

There was no change in the popularity of pubs for men, where about two thirds of the men had had a drink in the past 12 months. Just over half of the women drank in pubs in 2000 and this was a slight increase from 1995. Men drank less often in both pubs and newer style bars in 2000 but there was no change for women. Likewise, there was no change in the quantities consumed by either group in pubs.

 

About one in three men had had a drink in a sports club in the past twelve months, but this had decreased from 1995 and the frequency with which men drank there also decreased. Women increased how much they drank at sports events, while men’s consumption remained stable.

 

About one in three men had had a drink outdoors and one third drank at a sports event. However, while the proportion drinking at sports events remained steady, the percentage of those drinking outdoors had decreased.

 

More women drank in nightclubs and women increased the typical quantities consumed there, from four to five drinks.

 

Women reported a marked increase in the typical quantities they consumed in cars in 2000 compared with 1995. Men increased their typical quantities in theatres or cinemas and on planes, where they typically drank between one and two drinks.

Well over a third of men and women drank at special events such as festivals, music events and dance parties. Due the nature of these events this was not a frequent location for drinking but some of the largest average amounts for any location were consumed there, almost seven drinks for men and more than four and a half for women.

Table 1

Drinking patterns at each location

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