{"id":201865,"date":"2025-03-07T10:54:20","date_gmt":"2025-03-07T15:54:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/?post_type=short-read&p=201865"},"modified":"2025-03-07T13:25:18","modified_gmt":"2025-03-07T18:25:18","slug":"how-americans-view-alcohols-benefits-and-risks","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2025\/03\/07\/how-americans-view-alcohols-benefits-and-risks\/","title":{"rendered":"How Americans view alcohol\u2019s benefits and risks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Customers
Customers with beers at McSorley’s Old Ale House in New York in February 2024. (Charly Triballeau\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Alcohol and personal health have been in the news lately amid a U.S. surgeon general advisory<\/a> that even moderate drinking increases cancer risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About seven-in-ten Americans ages 21 and older say they drink alcohol at least a few times a year, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. Our survey explores how this group thinks about their own alcohol use and whether drinkers who are aware of the federal warning about cancer risks plan to change their own behavior. (For more on Americans\u2019 alcohol consumption, refer to this chart<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How we did this<\/summary>\n

Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to understand Americans\u2019 attitudes and behaviors around alcohol use. We surveyed 5,123 U.S. adults from Feb. 24 to March 2, 2025, including 3,494 who are ages 21 and older and drink alcohol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everyone who took part in the survey is a member of the Center\u2019s American Trends Panel (ATP), a group of people recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses who have agreed to take surveys regularly. This kind of recruitment gives nearly all U.S. adults a chance of selection. Interviews were conducted either online or by telephone with a live interviewer. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories. Read more about the ATP\u2019s methodology<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are the questions used for this analysis<\/a>, the topline<\/a> and the survey methodology<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

Negative and positive impacts from alcohol<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A majority of drinkers (57%) think their own alcohol use does not<\/em> increase their risk of serious physical health problems. Still, 43% say their drinking does increase their risk of health problems either a lot or a little.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In addition, 15% say their alcohol use causes problems in their social or personal life; 85% say it does not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the positive side, 53% say drinking alcohol increases their enjoyment of food and meals either a lot or a little. And 44% say alcohol helps them maintain social connections with friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those who drink more regularly report positive experiences at higher rates. For instance, 69% of routine drinkers \u2013 those who say they consume alcohol a few times a week or more \u2013 and 63% of those who drink a few times a month say alcohol increases their enjoyment of food or meals, compared with just 36% of those who drink only a few times a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Routine drinkers are more likely to perceive heightened health risks<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
\"A<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A majority of routine drinkers (59%) say their alcohol use increases their risk of serious physical health problems at least a little. Those who drink a few times a month (45%) or a few times a year (31%) are less likely to say their drinking increases this risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, many drinkers do not<\/em> think their drinking raises their risk of serious health problems. That includes 68% of those who drink a few times a year, 55% of those who drink a few times a month and 41% of those who drink at least a few times a week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n