People who work 49 or more hours drink more alcohol, study reveals

PEOPLE who work longer hours drink more booze, a study reveals.

Workers putting in 49 or more hours in a week guzzle an extra pint or glass of wine, on average, compared with nine-to-fivers.

World Health Organisation research found drinking starts to increase as soon as people work beyond the standard 40-hour week.

Study author Professor Lode Godderis, from KU Leuven in Belgium, said: “We know that having long working hours is stressful and that alcohol reduces stress.

“Having a drink can make you feel more relaxed and, after a week of long or hard work, you feel like you deserve a treat so we give ourselves a present.”

Prof Godderis revealed the findings as part of a WHO working group at the International Congress on Occupational Health.

Data from 105,000 people found those who work 41 to 48 hours per week consume 10.4g more pure alcohol per week, on average, than those on a standard 35 to 40 hours.

This rises to 17.7g more than usual for people working 49 to 54 hours, which is around two whole units — equal to an extra pint of weak beer or small glass of wine.

NHS guidelines suggest people should not regularly drink more than 14 units a week — around 112g of pure alcohol.

Prof Goderris said working from home during Covid and taking extra jobs in the cash crunch mean growing numbers of people work longer-than-average weeks.

This could lead to more people drinking and harming their health, he warned.

He added: “Long-term stress could lead to risky drinking in people who have a tendency for addiction but we couldn’t prove that in this study.

“Working hours have an important impact on our health and need to be talked about all over the world.”