Does minimum unit pricing affect all alcohol? The biggest alcohol policy myths busted
1 | Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) unfairly hits moderate drinkers
Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) only affects the price of the cheapest alcohol. A 50p MUP (as currently implemented in Wales) corresponds to £1.14 for a standard pint of beer, or £4.69 for a bottle of wine - which is bought disproportionately by heavier drinkers. Moderate drinkers buy relatively little of the cheapest products and so do not see a significant financial impact from MUP. estimated that the introduction of a 50p MUP in Scotland in 2018 increased moderate drinkers’ spending on alcohol by just £2 per year.
2 | Heavy drinkers don’t respond to price changes
Heavy drinkers are those who consume more than 14 units of alcohol a week but aren’t dependent drinkers i.e. a person with an excessive desire to drink. A huge body of international research evidence has demonstrated that heavy, non-dependent drinkers do respond to price changes and the introduction of MUP in Scotland confirms that we have seen reductions in drinking among this group.
3 | Minimum unit pricing will push people dependent on alcohol to drugs, illicit alcohol and crime
Dependent drinkers are a complex group so generalisations can’t be made. However, the evaluation of MUP in Scotland examined the impacts on dependent drinkers and found in response to the increased price of alcohol. There was also no clear evidence of any impact on crime rates.
4 | There is no clear relationship between the price of alcohol and consumption
The relationship between the affordability of alcohol and levels of consumption is clear: every time we walk into a supermarket, we recognise that a product’s price influences whether and how much we buy – and the same applies to alcohol. Both Government analysis and the alcohol industry supports and recognises alcohol consumption being price sensitive.
Although alcohol harms can take many years to develop and so the full benefits of MUP may not be seen for several decades, evaluation evidence from Scotland already shows a clear positive impact of the policy. Since MUP was introduced, alcohol sales have fallen by 3 per cent and at least 156 fewer people are estimated to have died as a result of their drinking each year.
5 | Minimum Unit Pricing hits the poorest hardest
People on lower incomes are less likely to drink, so moderate drinkers from lower income groups are barely affected by MUP. The heaviest drinkers from low income groups are affected and are expected to reduce their consumption substantially. This is also the group suffering the highest levels of harm caused by alcohol at the moment. Therefore, to reduce harm without penalising moderate drinkers, this is precisely the group the policies need to target.
As a result, policies like MUP that effectively address the alcohol consumption of heavy drinkers from more deprived groups are likely to contribute to a reduction in health inequalities between the most and least affluent in society. This is something we have already seen in Scotland, with in the population.
Read more about Minimum Unit Pricing
Further information
University of 91Ö±²¥ Alcohol Research Group
For further information contact:
Amy Pullan
Media Relations Officer
University of 91Ö±²¥
+44 114 222 9859
a.l.huxtable@sheffield.ac.uk