Wealthier Americans less concerned about alcohol and pregnancy

February 10, 2016, 3:58 PM GMT+0

Americans aren't sure about the CDC's recent advice on alcohol consumption by women, but wealthier Americans are much less worried about alcohol and pregnancy than everyone else

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released some controversial advice for women who are sexually active but not on birth control: stop drinking alcohol. The advice caused a backlash from many circles, with accusations that the CDC was 'sexist' or 'puritanical'. America isn't alone in advising women who are pregnant or trying to become pregnant to abstain from alcohol, though official British advice does say that the risks from occasional consumption of alcohol are minimal.

YouGov's latest research shows that Americans are evenly divided, almost three ways, on the CDC's advice. 37% of Americans agree that sexually active women should avoid alcohol if they aren't on birth control, but 37% disagree. 25% aren't sure. Americans in households earning under $50,000 a year tend to agree (42%) rather than disagree (31%) with the advice, while the wealthiest Americans disagree with wit 48% to 28%. Men (39%) are also slightly more likely than women (36%) to support the recommendation.

Wealthier Americans are also less worried than everyone else about pregnant women drinking. Overall 69% of Americans say that pregnant women should totally avoid alcohol, but this varies from 75% among the poorest Americans to 55% among people with incomes over $100,000. 44% of Americans with incomes over $100,000 think it is OK for pregnant women to occasionally drink.

Full poll results can be found here and topline results and margin of error here.