Poorer households with smokers spend almost a third of their income on tobacco, it has been disclosed, prompting calls to increase support to stop smoking in deprived areas, a charity has said.
Analysis from Action on Smoking and Health Scotland (Ash Scotland) suggests that the country’s lowest income group will spend 29.4 per cent of their income on tobacco products in 2023 – about nine times more than the 3.35 per cent estimated to be spent by similar households in the highest income group.
Research commissioned by the charity to mark No Smoking Day on Wednesday also estimates households in the country’s lowest income group containing two or more people who smoke will spend more than £6,000 on tobacco in 2023, accounting for 73.5 per cent of income.
