Nearly a third of smoking households in the South West are living in poverty 

New analysis of national data commissioned by charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) finds that the proportion of smokers living in poverty is 110,000 in the South West.

The new breakdown published today [Wednesday 9th February] shows that In England as a whole 31% of households containing smokers live in poverty once spending on smoking is accounted for, whereas in the South West it is 30%.

The link between smoking and disadvantage is well established, but this new analysis highlights how the impact of smoking on local communities is compounded in regions where household incomes are also lower.

Households where people smoke are poorer because of an addiction which usually started in childhood. Two thirds of adult smokers started before they reached 18 and most of them go on to become regular adult smokers. Smoking is highly addictive and on average it takes thirty attempts before a smoker successfully stops for good. People living with social and economic hardship tend to be more addicted, and find it harder to quit, although they try just as often.

The findings also showed:

• The average smoker is spending just under £2,000 a year on tobacco costing England smokers a total of £12 billion annually. 
• Each year in the South West, 110,000 or 30% of smoking households are living in poverty when spending on tobacco is taken into account, including 210,331 adults below pension age, 38,488 pension age adults and around 99,508 dependent children. 
• Smokers’ employment chances and average earnings are also damaged by smoking creating further hardship for people, especially those who have to give up working due to smoking-related ill health. In the South West, 25,235 people are economically inactive due to smoking and smokers earn 6.8% less than non-smokers. 
• Current smokers are 2.5 times more likely to require social care support at home and need care on average 10 years earlier than non-smokers, accounting for 8% of local authority spending on adult social care.

Public Health Minister Maggie Throup said: “Smoking has a disproportionate impact on poorer communities across the country and we’re absolutely determined to hit our ambition for England to be smoke free by 2030.

“We have launched an independent review of our smoking policy, led by Javed Khan, and will publish a new plan later this year setting out how we will tackle health inequalities and level up the country.”

Deborah Arnott, Chief Executive of Action on Smoking and Health, said: “Smoking is the single largest driver of health inequalities in England and it is shocking that it’s contributing to more than two million adults living in poverty, concentrated in the most disadvantaged regions in the country. 

“Behind every statistic is a human being. A real person, threatened by the debilitating health effects of smoking, and significantly poorer because of an addiction that started in childhood.

“We look forward to the forthcoming Tobacco Control Plan to achieve the Government’s smokefree 2030 ambition. This will play a key role in delivering the 2030 targets to narrow the gap in life expectancy, wellbeing and productivity between the top performing and other areas set out in the Levelling Up White Paper.”