Americans Current Views on Smoking 2013: An AARP Bulletin Survey November 2013
Americans Current Views on Smoking 2013: An AARP Bulletin Survey Report Prepared by Al Hollenbeck, Ph.D. Copyright 2013 AARP Research 601 E Street NW Washington, DC 20049 http://www.aarp.org/research/ Reprinting with Permission
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Executive Summary With an interest in learning more about adults views on smoking and on behalf of the AARP Bulletin, in September 2013, AARP Research fielded a short telephone survey among a nationally representative sample of 1,006 individuals age 18 and older. Key Findings Just over half of adults of all ages (56%) report that they have never smoked, while one-quarter (25%) report that they are former smokers. Almost one in five (18%) acknowledge they are current smokers. Among current smokers, over half (55%) say that they would like to quit smoking. However, this differs by age group with older smokers age 50+ (67%) more likely to say they would like to quit than younger smokers age 18-49 (47%). More than eight in ten (84%) respondents agree that smoking is extremely harmful (55%) or very harmful (29%) to adults. When asked whether smoking should be banned in all public places, almost seven in ten (67%) either strongly agreed (55%) or somewhat agreed (12%) that smoking should be banned. When asked whether tobacco products should be taxed to support health care costs, almost seven in ten (69%) either strongly agreed (51%) or somewhat agreed (18%) that tobacco products should be taxed. When asked whether smokers should pay higher health insurance rates, slightly more than half (55%) either strongly agreed (38%) or somewhat agreed (17%) that smokers should pay higher health insurance rates. When asked whether smokers should pay higher life insurance rates, slightly more than half (57%) either strongly agreed (38%) or somewhat agreed (19%) that smokers should pay higher health insurance rates. 1
Conclusions According to our results, the majority of adults report that they have never smoked. Among adults who currently smoke, a majority say that they would like to quit smoking. However, younger smokers report that they are less interested in quitting than older smokers. When asked a series of questions on consequences for smoking the majority of respondents, regardless of age, agreed that there should be consequences for smokers such as taxes to support health care costs, and higher life and health insurance rates. The majority of respondents also supported banning smoking in all public places. Those with higher incomes and more education are more likely to support imposing these consequences and a smoking ban. Lack of awareness may be the reason those with less income and education are more likely to smoke and less likely to agree to negative consequences or a smoking ban. 2
Background In September 2013, on behalf of the AARP Bulletin, AARP Research contracted with Social Science Research Solutions (SSRS) to field a short telephone survey among a nationally representative sample of adults ages 18 and older to learn more about responders current views on smoking. 1 Respondents were also read a series of questions concerning their current views on smoking. Detailed Findings Key findings are presented in the Executive Summary. A number of demographic variables were examined age, gender, education, household income, region of the country, and race. Given the history of smoking in the United States it is not surprising that we find some significant variation in opinions about smoking among different demographic groups. However, there were no consistent patterns across all questions by demographic group. Results by Age Just over half of adults of all ages (56%) report that they have never smoked, while one-quarter (25%) report that they are former smokers. Almost one in five (18%), regardless of age, acknowledge they are current smokers. Among current smokers (18%), more than half (55%) say that they would like to quit smoking. However, this differs by age group: Older smokers age 50+ (67%) are more likely to say they would like to quit than younger smokers age 18-49 (47%). Similarly, younger smokers do not want to quit smoking (53%) compared to older smokers (30%). These age differences might reflect life course opportunities to both smoke and quit, and other environmental factors, like cost, and warnings and other anti-smoking campaigns. Table 1 (on the next page) shows responses to the survey items by age. 1 The survey was fielded from September 11 to September 15, 2013. At the conclusion of the fielding period, responses had been received from 1,006 adults age 18 and older. The sampling error is +/- 3.09 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. This means that in 95 out of 100 samples of this size, the results would fall in a range of no more than three percentage points of what would have been obtained if every person age 18 or older had been surveyed. Throughout the report, results are presented using weighted data figures. 3
Results by Gender While current rates of smoking do not differ significantly by gender, more females (61%) have never smoked compared to males (51%). The gender pattern of differences suggests that females are less likely to have started smoking and more likely to think that smoking should be banned in public places compared to males. Table 1 (below) shows responses to the survey items by gender: Table 1: Results by Age and Gender Survey Item Age 18-49 Age 50+ Male Female Are you a current smoker? 19% 18% 21% 16% Percentage who agree that is Extremely/Very Harmful How harmful do you feel smoking is to adults? Smoking should be banned in all public places. Tobacco products should be taxed to support health care costs. Smokers should pay higher health insurance rates. Smokers should pay higher life insurance rates *p<.05 83% 86% 82% 86% Percentage who Strongly/Somewhat Agree 71% 68% 62% 73%* 53% 59% 69% 70% 53% 59% 59% 52% 55% 60% 60% 54% Results by Education Current smokers are more likely to have a high school education or less (26%), while in turn, those with some college (16%) are more likely to smoke than those with post- college education (9%). The reverse direction from higher to lower education levels is also true for those who have never smoked Post-College (69%), College (57%), and High School or less (47%). The desire to quit smoking for current smokers did not differ by educational level. Table 2 (on the next page) shows responses to the survey items by educational level. 4
Results by Household Income Respondents with household incomes below $50K are more than twice as likely to be current smokers as those with incomes greater than $50K (See Table 2, below). The highest income group, $75K (62%) had significantly more never smoked respondents than the two income groups below $50K in income (49% and 50% respectively). The desire to quit smoking for current smokers did not differ by household income. Survey Item Are you a current smoker? How harmful do you feel smoking is to adults? Smoking should be banned in all public places. Tobacco products should be taxed to support health care costs. Smokers should pay higher health insurance rates. Smokers should pay higher life insurance rates *p<.05 Table 2: Results by Education and Income Less than HS Some College College + Post Grad Under $25K $25K- $49.9 $50K- $74.9 $75K+ 26%* 16%* 9%* 26% 24% 11% 11% Percentage who agree that smoking is Very/Extremely Harmful 83% 81% 90%* 80% 87% 89% 87% Percentage who Strongly/Somewhat Agree 66% 66% 73% 64% 71% 72% 69% 68% 67% 76% 67% 76% 73% 68% 47% 53% 72%* 47% 57% 64%* 62%* 48% 55% 74%* 46% 58%* 67%* 65%* Results by Race Adults level of current smoking did not differ by race. However, a majority of White Non- Hispanics and Hispanics thought smokers should pay more for both health and life insurance than did Black Non-Hispanics (See Table 3, on the next page). 5
Results by Region of the Country There are more current smokers in the South (22%) than in the West (14%). The desire to quit smoking for current smokers did not differ by geographic region. Table 3 (below) shows the results by geographic region. Survey Item Are you a current smoker? How harmful do you feel smoking is to adults? Smoking should be banned in all public places. Tobacco products should be taxed to support health care costs. Smokers should pay higher health insurance rates. Smokers should pay higher life insurance rates *p<.05 Table 3: Results by Race and Region White Black Hispanic North Non- Non- East Hispanic Hispanic North Central South West 19% 25% 15% 14% 20% 22%* 14% Percentage who agree that smoking is Very/Extremely Harmful 85% 81% 82% 91%* 78% 83% 87%* Percentage who Strongly/Somewhat Agree 69% 61% 72% 74%* 65% 64% 69% 69% 72% 76% 69% 66% 69% 74% 58%* 35% 63%* 59% 53% 52% 60% 59%* 34% 62%* 60% 56% 53% 63%* 6
Summary According to our results, the majority of adults report that they have never smoked. Among the adults who currently smoke, a majority say that they would like to quit smoking. However, younger smokers report that they are less interested in quitting than older smokers. When asked a series of questions on consequences for smoking the majority of respondents, regardless of age, agreed that there should be consequences for smokers such as taxes to support health care costs, and higher life and health insurance rates. The majority of respondents also supported banning smoking in all public places. Those with higher incomes and more education are more likely to support imposing these consequences and a smoking ban. Lack of awareness may be the reason those with less income and education are more likely to smoke and less likely to agree to negative consequences or a smoking ban. Given the history of smoking in the United States it is not surprising that for different demographic groups we find some significant variation in how they responded to each survey question. However, there were no consistent patterns across questions by demographic groupings to identify demographic trends in the data. 7
Appendix A: Demographic Characteristics of Respondents 8
Americans Current Views on Smoking 2013 N=1,006 Age Gender 18-49 56% 50+ 43% Men 48% Women 52% Employment Status Employed Full-Time 43% Employed Part-Time 13% Retired 18% Homemaker 7% Other (student, unemployed, etc.) 19% Educational Level Less than high school graduate 13% High school graduate 32% Some college 25% College graduate or technical school 18% Post-graduate or professional 10% Marital Status Race or Ethnicity Married 48% Widowed 6% Divorced 10% Single, or single with partner 31% Separated 3% White, non-hispanic 65% Black, non-hispanic 11% Hispanic of any race 15% Other 7% Annual Household Income Less than $25,000 27% $25,000-$49,999 21% $50,000-$74,999 12% $75,000+ 24% 9
Appendix B: Annotated Questionnaire 10
Annotated Questionnaire The study was conducted for AARP via telephone by SSRS, an independent research company. Interviews were conducted from September 11 September 15, 2013, among a nationally representative sample of 1,006 respondents age 18 and older. Of those respondents, a total of 573 were age 18-49 and a total of 433 were age 50+. The margin of error for total respondents is +/-3.09% at the 95% confidence level. More information about SSRS can be obtained by visiting www.ssrs.com 1. Are you a current smoker, former smoker or have you never smoked? Current smoker Former smoker Never smoked Don t know Refused 18 25 56 * * (Asked of current smokers; n = 164) 2. Would you like to quit smoking? Yes No Don t know Refused 55 44 1 -- 3. How harmful do you feel smoking is to adults? Would you say? NOT HARMFUL Somewhat HARMFUL Don t NET Not at all Not too harmful NET Very Extremely know Refused 3 2 2 12 84 29 55 1 * 4. Please tell me if you agree or disagree with the following statements? a. smoking should be banned in all public places AGREE Neither agree DISAGREE Don t NET Strongly Somewhat nor disagree NET Somewhat Strongly know Refused 67 55 12 4 27 12 16 1 1 b. tobacco products should be taxed to support health care costs AGREE Neither agree DISAGREE Don t NET Strongly Somewhat nor disagree NET Somewhat Strongly know Refused 69 51 18 6 24 7 17 1 * c. smokers should pay higher health insurance rates AGREE Neither agree DISAGREE Don t NET Strongly Somewhat nor disagree NET Somewhat Strongly know Refused 55 38 17 6 37 13 25 1 1 d. smokers should pay higher life insurance rates AGREE Neither agree DISAGREE Don t NET Strongly Somewhat nor disagree NET Somewhat Strongly know Refused 57 38 19 8 34 11 24 1 * 11