Thursday, March 12, 2009

Booze, Success, and Happiness

Arthur C. Brooks examines the advantages of moderate drinking. An excerpt:

Moderate drinkers are richer than teetotalers, too. In 2001 the University of Michigan's Panel Study of Income Dynamics found that light drinkers (one to two drinks a day) had a mean income of $49,000, versus $36,000 among teetotalers. This is a nuanced statistic; drinking may be associated with other variables (like education) that influence income. So the researchers did their best to strip these other causes out. If two adults were identical with respect to education, age, family status, race and religion, except that the first had one or two drinks each night after work while the second was a teetotaler, the drinker would tend to enjoy a "drinker's bonus" of about 10% higher income.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

This doesn't surprise me. I am somewhere between a teetotaler and a moderate drinker. Those months in which I am a moderate drinker, I am invited to more parties, get-togethers and other social events in which I am able to network and practice important political-social skills needed for advancement. Furthermore, office get togethers allow an informal way of meeting with your peers, leaders and subordinates at a purely peer level, allowing everyone to get to know and trust the person you are. Teetotalers may not benefit in the same way.