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Underage drinking: findings from the 2004 Offending, Crime and Justice Survey
This Home Office report looks at underage drinking in the UK, where underage drinkers buy their alcohol, and the relationship between underage drinking and anti-social behaviour and crime. It finds that those children who drink and more likely to commit criminal damage and theft during or after drinking than those who drink less frequently.
Title: Underage drinking: findings from the 2004 Offending, Crime and Justice Survey
Author: Sian Matthews, Laura Brasnett and Jonathan Smith
Series: Home Office Findings 277
Number of pages: 6
Date published: June 2006
Availability: Download full report 
PDF 72Kb
Key points
Over half (56%) of all 10- to 17-year-olds reported having had an alcoholic drink in the previous 12 months. This figure was highest among 16- to 17-year-olds (88%) and lowest among 10- to 13-year-olds (29%).
There was no gender difference in frequency of alcohol consumption among 10- to 17-year-olds. However, among 18- to 25-year-olds, more men (68%) than women (51%) reported drinking alcohol once a week or more.
One-third of those 10- to 17-year-olds who reported drinking alcohol once a month or more also reported feeling very drunk once a month or more in the previous 12 months.
For those respondents aged 10 to 17 years who had drunk alcohol in the past year, the majority reported drinking alcopops (59%) and beer (46%).
48% of 10-to 17-year-olds who had drunk alcohol in the past year reported that they obtained alcohol from their parents, although those who got very drunk at least once a month generally obtained alcohol from pubs, bars and shops rather than from their parents .
Around half of 16- to 17-year-olds had tried to buy alcohol from pubs and bars (59%) or shops (47%) in the past 12 months and most had been successful at least once (98% of those trying pubs and bars and 96% of those trying shops).
Those who drank alcohol once a week or more committed a disproportionate volume of crime, accounting for 37% of all offences reported by 10- to 17-year-olds but only 14% of respondents. Those who had never drunk alcohol or had not drunk alcohol in the past year committed 16% of all offences but comprised 45% of respondents.
A higher proportion of those who drank alcohol once a week or more reported committing criminal damage (12%) and theft (4%) offences during or after drinking than those who drank less frequently.
Criminal and disorderly behaviour during or after drinking in previous 12 months amongst 10- to 17-year-olds who drank at least once a month
Getting a copy
Download Underage drinking: findings from the 2004 Offending, Crime and Justice Survey PDF 72Kb
Last update: Wednesday, September 17, 2008