Thousands can be lifted out of poverty if they quit tobacco, charity says

More than 60,000 households could lift themselves out of poverty if they quit tobacco, an anti-smoking charity has said.

Around 63,000 households in Scotland would no longer suffer from relative poverty – where they have less than 60% of the average income – if they could give up using tobacco, Ash Scotland said on Monday.

David McColgan, the charity’s chairman, said: “With tobacco continuing to cause 100,000 hospitalisations and 9,000 deaths in Scotland each year, and 63,000 households experiencing relative poverty due to spending on tobacco, smoking remains a major public health and social justice issue.”

The analysis, which is released as Ash Scotland launches its three-year Time For A Tobacco-Free Scotland strategy, said that 42% of all households in Scotland containing people who smoke live in relative poverty, and there would be around 10% fewer in those circumstances if tobacco was out of their lives.

Reducing the number of people who smoke in Scotland by 1% could bring more than 3,700 households out of relative poverty, the charity added.

The findings come after Ash Scotland commissioned consultants Landman Economics to work out the cost of smoking for households in Scotland which are home to people who smoke.

They based their average income figure on the UK median of £32,300 a year.

Mr McColgan said the charity’s new strategy highlighted there was “still much to do to eliminate the inequalities caused by tobacco and related products across our communities and to challenge the predatory profiteering industries promoting addictive, health-harming products to young people”.

Sheila Duffy, chief executive of Ash Scotland, said: “Scotland has a strong record in tobacco control and we should all aspire for the country to be seen again as a leading public health nation.

“We are calling on all public health stakeholders to work with us to make this happen, as it’s time for a tobacco-free Scotland.”