CIGARETTE SMELTING - A LIGHT ON GENDER AND CLASS-INEQUALITY IN BRITAIN

The decline in smoking prevalence in Britain has been associated with a narrowing of gender differences and a widening of class differences in cigarette smoking, The shrinking population of smokers is increasin gly drawn from those occupying subordinate positions in the gender and class hierarchies. The article reviews the evidence linking social in equality and women's smoking, drawing on conventional measures of gend er and socio-economic position and on alternative measures which tap m ore directly into the processes that sustain gender and class inequali ty. The article deepens its analysis of the links between social inequ ality and smoking behaviour through a survey of women caring for young children in manual households, The survey uncovered pronounced intra- group differences in the smoking behaviour of women occupying broadly similar gender and socio-economic positions, These differences were as sociated, in clear and systematic ways, with differences in the mother s' social and material circumstances, High rates of prevalence and con sumption and low rates of cessation were related to heavier caring res ponsibilities and to greater material disadvantage.