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Really, most fun

Britain’s alcoholism explosion – archive, 1970
19 January 1970: Monday is now established as ‘hangover’ day when 250,000 will stay away from work

Britain is in danger of an “alcoholic explosion.” Today, about 250,000 men will be absent from work because of heavy weekend drinking. The cost to the nation in a full year may be as much as £250 millions.

A report by the National Council on Alcoholism says both industry and the country as a whole are trying to hide the growing drink problem.

Growing“?

Pity no one told them of the Victorian love for St Monday…..

13 thoughts on “Really, most fun”

  1. Today, about 250,000 men will be absent from work because of heavy weekend drinking.

    Do we have a figure for the number of women, or aren’t the Guardian interested? No #MeToo hashtag?!

  2. @ Rob
    All the women absent because of heavy drinking are reclassified as men for the headline.
    At first, I thought that the Grauniad couldn’t do sums, then I realised that it was multiple editing.
    Working population 24+ million, bit under 16m men, just under 9m women. Alcoholics between 0.7% and 1%. Bit less among working men as some alcoholics lost jobs, on the streets. So number of men not turning up to work between 100k and 150k.
    Guardian not satisfied with actual number. So take the top figure from the range, multiplies by working population, gets 245,000, then round up working population to next million above, get 250,000 men and women. Next editor deletes “and women” because she blames all drunkenness on men

  3. I find it interesting that they say “millions”, rather than “million”.

    I had that down as a Victorian thing – Jules Verne on one of his lengthy technical asides, for example.

  4. Alcoholics generally cope with a binge, by definition. I worked with one and he’d just have a couple of early ones on Monday and be in the saddle.

    Binge drinking is not alcoholism.

  5. ‘The cost to the nation in a full year may be as much as £250 millions.’

    How do you ‘cost the nation?’

    This statistic is related – by stupidity – with declarations like ‘pollution killed 40,000 people last year.’ When asked for death certificates, they say, “Whuh?”

    Show me a ledger with alcoholic costs.

    The cost to the nation in a full year may be as much as £250 billion.

    If you are going to make up a number, make up a big one.

    ‘A report by the National Council on Alcoholism says both industry and the country as a whole are trying to hide the growing drink problem.’

    A fact filled report from the Temperance Union.

    ‘Industry’ is ambiguous.

  6. These days, especially in the Guardian, more than two pints in a night is “binge drinking” and hence alcoholism.

  7. “These days, especially in the Guardian, more than two pints in a night is “binge drinking” and hence alcoholism.”

    Well then . . . my current binge has lasted 11 years.

  8. “Binge drinking is not alcoholism.”

    Indeed. Two or three times a year, I get bladdered. My wife thinks this is incipient alcoholism.

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