UNEMPLOYMENT AND CHANGE OF TOBACCO HABITS - A STUDY OF YOUNG-PEOPLE FROM 16 TO 21 YEARS OF AGE

In a cohort study of 1080 pupils who were followed for 5 years from wh en they left compulsory school (from age 16 to age 21 years), smoking habits were found to correlate with unemployment among both boys and g irls. Pupils who were smokers in school had a higher risk of becoming unemployed than non-smokers. Irrespective of early smoking, smoking ha bits developed more unfavourably among unemployed young people than am ong those with no unemployment during the period studied. The odds rat io of being a smoker at the age of 21 years when unemployed more than 20 weeks during the observation period, compared with those without or with short unemployment, was 2.44 for men and 3.45 for women. When ad justed for the influence of socio-economic background, education, econ omy and smoking habits at the start of the period, the odds ratio was 1.7 (95% CI 1.01-2.86) for men and 2.0 (1.13-3.53) for women. The adju sted odds ratio for increasing or starting smoking during the period w as 1.5 (95% CI 0.89-2.56) for men and 2.0 (1.18-3.35) for women. No si gnificant correlation was found between snuffing and unemployment. Thu s, it seems that unemployment is a risk factor for development of toba cco smoking in young people, especially among women.