Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER June 15, 2015 6 NEWS Risky drinking behaviour rising among women: OECD Many trying to compete in 'typically masculine work environments' BY SARAH DOBSON ON the one hand, the news is good — per-capital alcohol consump- tion in the 34 countries in the Organisation for Economic De- velopment (OECD) has declined overall. On the other hand, many countries have seen a signifi cant increase in some risky drinking behaviours (such as binge drink- ing) — particularly among young people and women. " ere is a fairly strong trend for women's drinking behaviours to converge to those of men," said its report Tackling Harmful Al- cohol Use: Economics and Public Health Policy, which looked at the years 2011 to 2014. e rates of "hazardous" drink- ing (a weekly amount of pure al- cohol of 140 grams or more for women and 210 grams or more for men) and heavy episodic drinking (fi ve to eight drinks in one session, depending on the country) in young people, espe- cially women, have increased in many OECD countries. And initiation into alcohol drinking and drunkenness is hap- pening at increasingly early ages, as girls have virtually caught up with boys in the past 10 years in terms of the average age at which they start drinking in 20 OECD countries. So, why are women drinking more alcohol these days? "More years spent in educa- tion, improved labour market prospects, increased opportu- nities for socialization, delayed pregnancies and family ties, are all part of women's changing life- styles, in which alcohol drinking, sometimes including heavy drink- ing, has easily found a place," said the report. Women who are more educated and have a higher socioeconomic status are also more likely to in- dulge in risky drinking in many countries (as are men with less education and a lower socioeco- nomic status), found the OECD. "Women with higher education who end up taking better-paid jobs involving higher degrees of responsibility may drink more heavily because they are exposed to more stress and have more occasions of socializing and go- ing out with colleagues. Besides, these occasions being typically in masculine work environments, women are confronted with a sit- uation where the limits on drink- ing are higher than they would be exposed to otherwise." Much of the bad behaviour starts during post-secondary ed- ucation, where non-drinkers are often looked on with suspicion, almost like outcasts, said Anne Rochon Ford, project lead at the National Network on Environ- ments and Women's Health at the York Institute for Health Research in Toronto. "It's become so normalized in our culture, it's perfectly un- derstandable that women with a pretty low level of understanding about the physiological problems of drinking are going to be putting themselves at risk." And as women in university settings move more into conven- tionally male fi elds and compete with men in ways they historically didn't, the downside is women are also thinking they can drink like men and are being encouraged to drink like men, she said. " ere's this kind of 'pony up to the bar and match him with his drinking ability.'" Alcohol is the ultimate social lubricant in a high-pressure en- vironment where there's a desire to fi t in, said Gabrielle Glaser, au- thor of Her Best-Kept Secret: Why Women Drink — and How ey Can Regain Control. And a lot more women are in industries that are male-dominated, particularly technology and banking. "Those are two very, very (heavy) drinking industries. So you drink to seal a deal, you keep drinking, you don't want to be the (lightweight)…. you keep drink- ing with the guys even though you know you shouldn't… You almost have to do it." While many women start to be more responsible about drinking when they get pregnant, many are having babies at later ages in order to move to a certain point in their careers, said Rochon Ford. "The problem drinking can kind of carry on for longer and also start to create an environ- ment where they think it's OK to drink that much. ey've learned how to manage it." There's also more stress and anxiety these days. Previous gen- erations did not generally have to balance all the things many wom- en do today, said Glaser. " ey managed their homes, of course, some women did work… they lived in tight-knit commu- nities where their grandmothers and aunts and sisters were there to help," she said. "(Today), cer- tainly the workplace stress com- bined with having children later… and you combine that with taking care of elderly parents at the same time that you're raising teenagers, that is no fun." The stress release of alcohol is an enormous part of it, said Glaser. "It makes you feel better, you release endorphins, it feels good, you develop a pattern of expect- ing that endorphin release so you start drinking more. And it can quickly become a habit that needs watching." Even though great progress has been made in terms of equality, the reality is there's still an unbal- ance in households and women are still primarily responsible for organizing and planning every- thing related to childcare, said Catherine Paradis, senior research and policy analyst at the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse. "When women bear all the re- sponsibilities, they can feel over- whelmed, experience stress, and this puts them at greater risk for abusive drinking." Employers So, why should employers be concerned? "Heavy drinking is associated with a lesser probability of being in employment, more absence from work, lower productivity and wages, and a greater likelihood of causing accidents and injuries in the workplace," said the OECD. Health concerns Women are really surprised when they learn of potential downsides to alcohol, according to Gabrielle Glaser, author of Her Best-Kept Secret. "We have grown up in a culture, telling our daughters and hearing 'You can do anything a man can do, you can run a triathlon, you can do this, you can do that, you're every bit as capable,' but physiologically we are not when it comes to drinking. Women simply are not equal. We have more fat, which absorbs alcohol; less water, which dilutes it; and we make less of an enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenate which helps process the alcohol. So when you make less of it, you get drunk faster, you suffer the toxic effects of alcohol much faster." There are multiple illnesses or risks women are more likely to suffer, such as heart disorders, stroke, alcoholic hepatitis, breast cancer and cirrhosis of the liver, said Catherine Paradis, senior research and policy analyst at the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse. And along with the risks around pregnancy, there are vulnerabilities when it comes to medication. "Over-the-counter pain killers can slow the elimination of alcohol or mask its effects, and, conversely, alcohol can make certain medications less effective…. (and) women are much more frequently prescribed such drugs than men so, therefore, they have an increased risk." Women drink beer in Madrid in February 2015. More women are indulging, partly because of their careers, according to an OECD study. Credit: Juan Medina (Reuters) DON'T > pg. 12

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