Findings

Prevalence of tobacco smoking among adults:

• Men are more likely to smoke when compared with women. The rate of smoking has decreased more steeply in women between 2008 and 2016, although differences were found between England and Scotland.

• The greatest decline in smoking over time was seen in age groups 16–24.

• Health may be a precipitating factor for not smoking; those with a known heart condition were consistently less likely to smoke than those without any such diagnosis.

Smoking behaviours among adults – quitting, taking up, or re-starting:

• Those more likely to quit included: ‘lighter smokers’; those who were employed; those holding a degree; those who were married or in a civil partnership; and those living in a two-person household.

• Those more likely to start smoking included: young people (aged 16–24); single individuals; those who were unemployed; those who had no qualifications; and those who were living in households with other smokers.

Tobacco smoking among children and young people:

• The proportion of young people smoking had fallen over the last decade, although young people in Scotland seemingly smoked more heavily than those in England.

• The number of children being able to purchase cigarettes halved between 2006 and 2016.

Smoking behaviours among children aged 10–15:

• Family characteristics seemed to be crucial, with children more likely to smoke if their parents currently smoked or had smoked in the past. Girls were more likely to smoke if their father had no formal qualifications, was in a routine or lower supervisory role, or was unemployed.

• Boys whose fathers had poor mental health were five times more likely to smoke, compared with boys whose fathers did not have any mental health conditions.

E-cigarette use among adults (16+):

• Our analysis of Understanding Society (USoc) survey data showed a small increase in e-cigarette use, with around 3% of adults starting to use e-cigarettes between Wave 8 (2016–2018) and Wave 9 (2017–2019).

• In exploring the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of those that used e-cigarettes only, or used them alongside their tobacco smoking, we found that the normally accepted narrative of smoking behaviours (i.e., strongly linked to deprivation and social inequality) were reversed.

E-cigarette use among children and young people:

• USoc data suggesting that over one-fifth of boys and just under one-fifth of girls aged 15 had ever used e-cigarettes was of concern given that, as yet, the short and long-term health impacts were unknown.

Impact of policy and legislation on tobacco and e-cigarette use:

• Legislation appeared to have an impact on access to tobacco for children and young people, despite any models being non-significant.

• While this research did not identify statistically significant impacts from specific legislative controls, the cumulative impact of the number and extent of legislative actions around smoking is likely to be having an impact on prevalence and consumption.