Binge drinking damages employment chances for US college graduates

According to research by the universities of Cornel and Tel Aviv, college students who drink heavily six times a month reduce their probability of being hired after graduation by 10%. Students who drank heavily four times a month saw their probability of employment reduced by 6%. The research also found that every episode of binge drinking during a month reduces the chances of finding a full-time job after graduation by 1.4%.

The US National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) defines binge drinking for women as consuming four or more alcoholic beverages in two hours, and for men as consuming five or more alcoholic beverages in two hours.

The co-author of the study, Prof. Peter Bamberger of Cornell University, said that how students consume alcohol is more influential than the amount they drink in predicting their probability of being hired after graduation. The study determined that consumption of alcohol did not adversely affect a student’s employment prospects until it reached binge levels.

The researchers gathered data from 827 students who graduated from Cornel University, the University of Michigan, the University of Florida, and the University of Washington in 2014, 2015, and 2016.

The research team received a $2.2m (£1.5m) grant from the NIAAA to conduct the study. It is the first phase of a longitudinal study of the effects of alcohol abuse on the transition of students from college to the workforce. More than 16,000 students will participate in the five-year study.