According to a study published by the Centers for Disease Control all of our hangovers at work are costing the American economy BILLIONS, with a B.
Based on their calculations those hangovers are wasting $77 BILLION due to impaired productivity at work. Throw in another $4.6 billion for absenteeism and the number rises to over $81 billion.
Alcohol-related deaths are responsible for another $75 million due to “an average of 88,000 deaths each year, including 1 in 10 deaths among working-age Americans ages 20-64.”
However, those are only a few pieces of the puzzle as the study claims that the overall cost of excess alcohol consumption to the U.S. economy is $249 BILLION.
Here are a few more fun facts the CDC came up with…
Excessive alcohol use cost states and the District of Columbia a median of $3.5 billion in 2010, ranging from $488 million in North Dakota to $35 billion in California. Washington D.C. had the highest cost per person ($1,526, compared to the $807 national average), and New Mexico had the highest cost per drink ($2.77, compared to the $2.05 national average).
What is up, North Dakota?
The American Journal of Preventative Medicine reports…
Excessive drinking cost the U.S. $249.0 billion in 2010, or about $2.05 per drink. Government paid for $100.7 billion (40.4%) of these costs. Binge drinking accounted for $191.1 billion (76.7%) of costs; underage drinking $24.3 billion (9.7%) of costs; and drinking while pregnant $5.5 billion (2.2%) of costs. The median cost per state was $3.5 billion. Binge drinking was responsible for >70% of these costs in all states, and >40% of the binge drinking–related costs were paid by government.
The worst/best part? The CDC said that these numbers are probably low due to the fact that “the study underestimates the cost of excessive drinking because information on alcohol is often underreported or unavailable, and the study did not include other costs, such as pain and suffering due to alcohol-attributable harms.”
Underreported or unavailable? I can believe that. Who wants to answer questions when your head is pounding from doing one too many shots the night before?
H/T Bloomberg