Abstaining from alcohol and labour market underperformance--have we forgotten the 'dry' alcoholics?
OBJECTIVE
To investigate whether abstainers fare worse than non-abstainers on the labour market because a subset of the abstainers are ex-drinkers with alcohol problems.


METHODS
In the cross-sectional population survey 'health 2000 in Finland' (n = 10 000) carried out in 2000, alcohol dependency was measured using the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for alcohol dependence. The CIDI (composite international diagnostic interview) was applied to ascertain lifetime DSM-IV diagnoses for substance abuse diagnoses, including alcohol dependence. Individuals were considered to be employed if they were working part-time or full-time.


RESULTS
Male abstainers have on average 9.5 percentage points lower employment probability than non-abstainers. However, abstainers who have never drunk alcohol do not have lower employment probability than non-abstainers. Abstainers who are diagnosed as alcohol dependent have 27 percentage points lower employment probability than non-abstainers.


CONCLUSIONS
The underperformance of abstainers in a labour market sense is almost entirely due to the fact that some abstainers are ex-drinkers who in our study are identified as alcohol-dependent. Otherwise abstaining does not decrease employment probability.
Johansson
Edvard
E
The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy, Lönnrotinkatu 4B, 00120 Helsinki, Finland. edvard.johansson@etla.fi
Alho
Hannu
H
Kiiskinen
Urpo
U
Poikolainen
Kari
K
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004651:Employment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013695:Temperance