White-collar British women drink more

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LONDON, May 20 (UPI) -- White-collar British women drink a bottle of wine a week on average, and working class women drink about half as much, in what one official calls an "epidemic."

Women in jobs as managers in large companies drink a bottle of wine a week on average, around 11.2 units, compared with 6.2 units for female hairdressers, cleaners and factory workers, the Office of National Statistics found.

Diane Abbott, shadow health minister, said the figures, given during a Parliamentary answer, reflected a "Sex and the City" culture, the Daily Telegraph reported.

"It is good that more women are out in the workforce and are enjoying social life in pubs and bars. But these disturbingly high figures reveal women's drinking patterns have changed in a generation, reflecting a silent, middle-class epidemic. The problem is not just young 'ladettes,'" Abbott said. "These figures reflect the rise of the British 'Margarita culture,' and some of the surrounding problems. Easy availability and low price of supermarket booze have led to more housewives to drink to excess at home."

The government needs to bring in a radical new, long-term alcohol strategy including -- but not limited to -- a minimum price for alcohol, Abbott concluded.