Over 90,000 Cases Studied: Increased Alcohol Consumption Starting at Age 16 Harms Teens, Particularly from Socially Disadvantaged Families

A team of economists at the JKU and at the University of Passau have, for the first time, analyzed comprehensive data to study the impact of the minimum legal drinking age, focusing on the situation in Austria as an example.

Martin Halla
Martin Halla

The legal drinking age in German-speaking countries is 16. Economists from the Johannes Kepler University of Linz and the University of Passau in Germany have published a new study as part of a comprehensive data analysis to examine the impact of a low drinking age (in comparison to the legal drinking age in other countries around the world) using Austria as an example. One of the findings shows that beginning at age 16, the chances of experiencing alcohol poisoning increases by 42%.

Researchers have published a study titled study "Minimum Legal Drinking Age and the Social Gradient in Binge Drinking" as a JKU Working Paper and have found that adolescents from lower income and socially disadvantaged families in particular are inclined to experience a higher rate of negative effects due to alcohol consumption.

Looking at the situation in Austria from this perspective for the first time, researchers conducted a comprehensive data analysis to study the law’s impact by combining survey data provided by young people together with data from the Upper Austrian Regional Health Insurance Fund in regard to the number of hospital admissions for alcohol poisoning (91,208 young people between the ages of 13 and 21were admitted to the hospital for alcohol poisoning). Researchers also included data from a field study in which underage test shoppers tried to purchase a bottle of vodka in stores.

The analysis showed there is a sharp increase in alcohol consumption as well as in the numbers of alcohol-related poisoning immediately after one’s 16th birthday. Interestingly, however, the analyses indicate that these effects do not come about simply by being able to access alcohol easier.  Instead, it seems that after turning 16, young people simply underestimate just how harmful so-called "binge drinking" on the weekend can be. Martin Halla, professor of economics at the Johannes Kepler University of Linz, added: "This finding speaks to the normative way the law is perceived, which can also influences underestimating the dangers. Young people seem to believe that since drinking alcohol is now legal, it can't possibly be that harmful."

The Most Important Findings at a Glance

According to the researchers, alcohol consumption changes once teens turn 16:

  • The weekly amount of alcohol consumed by young people increases by leaps and bounds from 55 grams of alcohol per week to 105 grams, which is approximately three 0.5l bottles of beer more on average.
  • The probability of having consumed five or more alcoholic beverages during the past month on at least one or two occasions increases in each case by 10 percentage points.
  • Immediately after one’s 16th birthday, the probability of being admitted to hospital with alcohol poisoning increases by 42%.

Alexander Ahammer, assistant professor at the Institute for Economics and one of the researchers involved in the study, remarked, "We have been able to observe an increase in alcohol consumption when teens reach the legal drinking age, particularly among boys and socially disadvantaged teenagers." This is despite the fact that Europe is the world leader in terms of alcohol consumption and the legal drinking age here is significantly lower than in the USA, for example, where the majority of previous studies are from.

There is no change in the data for those teens whose parents abuse alcohol and once these particular teens turn 16. This does not mean, however, that these young people don’t consume alcohol, but rather the opposite in that this risk group consumed a high amount of alcohol before turning the legal drinking age. The researchers interpret the data to mean that young people tend to imitate their parents’ behavior.

If the government wants to better protect teens from alcohol abuse, especially if the family lives under precarious circumstances, researchers believe that gradually increasing the legal drinking age could be taken into consideration. Alternately, however, measures should be considered that are specifically aimed at the teens’ risk group in families that have a history of alcohol abuse. Raising the legal drinking age will not help this group in particular.

About the Authors

Prof. Dr. Martin Halla is head of the Department of Economic Policy at the Johannes Kepler University Linz. He is Research Fellow in the IZA Network and academic advisor to Gesundheit Österreich GmbH.

Prof. Dr. Alexander Ahammer is an Assistant Professor (tenure track) for Applied Econometrics and Big Data at the Institute of Economics at the Johannes Kepler University Linz.

Prof. Dr. Stefan Bauernschuster holds the chair of Public Economics at the University of Passau. He is Research Professor at the ifo Institute Munich, Research Fellow in the CESifo Network, Research Fellow in the IZA Network, and a member of the Social Policy Committee for the Verein für Socialpolitik.

Hannah Lachenmaier studied International Economics and Business and received her doctorate at the University of Passau under Prof. Dr. Bauernschuster’s supervision. The study is the first part of her cumulative dissertation.

Additional Information

See the original study titled "Minimum Legal Drinking Age and the Social Gradient in Binge Drinking": http://www.economics.jku.at/papers/2020/wp2025.pdf, opens an external URL in a new window