|
ALCOHOL COSTS: ECONOMIC COSTS
Although they are only a small portion of the drinking population, in combination alcohol abusers and alcoholics cost the United States a huge amount of time and money each year. Below is a breakdown of the economic costs of alcohol misuse and alcoholism for 1980. Though published in 1985, they report on 1980 data.
As an aside, typically, national statistics rely heavily upon the most recent census. Even when statistics are for a date after the census, they often are estimates derived from the most recent census. Though the census is conducted every 10 years, the quantity of information collected is such that it may take several years to analyze. When dealing with national counts of anything, from number of licensed drivers to the quantity of alcohol sold, gathering the necessary information from the various sources takes time. So always, the data available is an estimate. The most accurate figures will always be those for several years previous.
Costs of alcohol and alcoholism
Billions of dollars
Direct $17.9
Treatment 10.5
Crime - 2.3
Motor-vehicle crashes (property damase, police and court costs) 2.2
Other (fire losses, highway safety, special education) 2.9
Indirect 71.7
Reduced productivity 54.7
Premature death 14.5
Incarceration 1.8
Motor-vehicle crashes .5
Victims of crime (e.g., lost productivity) .2
TOTAL $89.6
The projected costs for 1983, based on the above data were $116.7 billion. Both the 1980 and 1983 totals represent a dramatic rise over the figure reported for 1977, which was $49.9 billion. The authors of the government-commissioned report point out that the major increase was due to inflation (38%) and a new formula for determining the effects of alcohol abuse in the workplace (47%); the rest of the change is attributable to the inclusion for the first time of the costs associated with fetal alcohol syndrome (8%), growth of the population (3%), and the remaining amount(4%) consisted of other minor changes.
The other side of the cost coin is economic revenues. The total tax revenues on alcohol raised by federal and state authorities amounts to approximately $12 billion. In 1985, the federal tax rates on distilled spirits saw their first increase since 1951. The tax on liquor was raised 20%. Nonetheless, alcohol, especially distilled spirits, is a true bargain. A report by a panel of the NRC observes that since 1967, because inflation has outstripped any federal and state tax increases, the real price of distilled spirits has been cut by nearly half. The real costs of beer dropped 20%, and the cost of wine dropped by almost 25%. Alcoholic beverages have become so inexpensive that their prices are now within the range of many nonalcoholic beverages. Whereas the costs of soda have tripled in that period, the costs of alcoholic beverages were not quite doubled, so both are now in the same price range.
The net effect of all this is that the typical American can drink more but spend less of the total family income to do it.
*13\331\2*
|
