Other studies have found that alcohol consumption is positively correlated with socio‐economic status (Corley et al. 2011; Grittner et al. 2012) and a study of young adults in Britain found a positive relationship between education level and alcohol consumption (Huerta & Borgonovi 2010). However, despite higher socio‐economic classes consuming more alcohol, individuals living in areas of social deprivation carry the burden of problem drinking and alcohol‐related disease (Bromley et al. 2012). The Scottish Health Survey 2012 found that men in low‐income households were most likely to engage in harmful drinking behaviour. Furthermore, a recent study found that men living in Scotland's most deprived area (SIMD quintile 1) were significantly more likely to have an alcohol use disorder than men living in the least deprived area (SIMD quintile 5) (32 percent versus 21 percent) (Bromley et al. 2012). In the Welsh Health Survey (2003/2004–2007), respondents in the most socially deprived regions reported the most binge drinking (Fone et al. 2013). In the present study, we find that alcohol consumption is positively correlated with socio‐economic status but that individuals living in areas
