People who drink a lot of alcohol and who are often drunk from the age of 19 and through their 20s are more successful in their careers.
Does that sound a bit silly?
It probably isn’t.
– We have strong data on this, says professor emeritus Willy Pedersen to Dagbladet.
Pedersen is a trained sociologist, and is professor emeritus at the University of Oslo. Among other things, he has researched youth and drug use.
He is one of several researchers behind the study that shows a connection between frequent alcohol intake and high income.
– There is perhaps a surprising connection, he says.
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The study, a so-called longitudinal methodhas followed a sample of the population from their teens until their late 30s.
Pedersen explains that it is a powerful type of data that can see what characterizes people.
– Everything from what drives people forward, to divorces, grades and education, he enumerates.
The researchers found that young people who drink a lot from the age of 13, 14 and 15 – they don’t do very well, he explains.
– But if you drink a lot, and are often drunk from the age of 19 and through your 20s, then we see a positive correlation with high education and high income.
– These people show a lower probability of ending up needing social security and social assistance.
He clarifies that it doesn’t help to sit down with the beer bottle in the hope of getting rich.
– It probably has little to do with the alcohol itself. It is not the alcohol alone, he says, and elaborates:
– The most important thing here is that the alcohol acts as a social lubricant.
People who drink a lot of alcohol are often invited to social events and are usually outgoing people, he believes.
– Happens frighteningly fast
– And it is more likely that these people will earn more. People are happy to think it’s pure hype, says Pedersen.
He continues:
– But we have data that confirms that those people who drink end up doing a little better than those who don’t drink, he states.
– Surprising
In Pedersen’s book “The beauty of drugs and pain”, he mentions the study, which was led by researcher Frøydis Enstad.
“The reasonable hypothesis would be that a lot of alcohol would be bad. But the findings were surprising: Quite simply, a very young age for ‘intoxication onset’ was linked to poor school results.”
The surprise came when they looked at those who continued to get drunk throughout their 20s, he writes in the book.
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“It may seem that there can be positive effects of getting drunk on important matters such as education and income? What is happening?’, it says.
Pedersen further explains:
“When you get drunk at the age of thirteen, it most often takes place on the fringes of youth groups, and that can contribute to stigma and stigma.”
– Have let alcohol become important
“But – when you enter your 20s, the opposite often happens. Then the use of alcohol has become accepted in most environments, it’s okay to get a little drunk – and that can weaken social control ‘quite a lot’.”
– We have allowed alcohol to become important in our society. You become integrated into social contexts, he summarizes to Dagbladet.
– Like the group you belong to, he says, and hints at the journalists.
– There is usually a high consumption of alcohol there. In the past, you weren’t a good journalist if you didn’t drink beer in the Tostrupkjelleren.
– What about yourself, then, did you drink?
– Heh heh, I drank quite a bit, yes. But now I drink considerably less. Now it’s more fun with ski trips and playing with the grandchildren.
