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Smoke-free shows positive results

People are eating out more often and smokers are smoking less since the introduction of the smoking ban

People are eating out more often and smokers are smoking less since the introduction of the smoking ban, further evidence of the positive effect of what is, since July 1, a UK-wide ban on smoking in public places.

There was a significant perception that the introduction of the smoking ban had improved the experience of going out, with nearly three out of four (73 per cent) saying it was better, with only one in 14 (seven per cent) saying it was worse and one in seven (14 per cent) that it had made no difference.
Some 16 per cent of respondents were currently smokers, and a further 20 per cent were ex-smokers, and the poll recorded significant differences in perceptions between smokers and non-smokers.
The great majority (84 per cent) of non-smokers felt the ban had improved the experience of going out, with only three per cent indicating that they thought it had made it worse. Even among smokers there was an acknowledgement that it had improved the experience, with almost half of all respondents (44 per cent) believing going out was now a better experience. However, one in four (23 per cent) felt it was worse.
More than half of the smokers who answered the questions (55 per cent) said they now smoked less since the introduction of the ban.
When it came to eating out, 74 per cent indicated that the smoking ban had made no difference to their behaviour. However, one in eight (12 per cent) said they now ate out more often, while six per cent now ate out more seldom.
Not surprisingly, increased eating-out was recorded among the non-smokers, who made up 84 per cent of the total sample. Of this group, one in six (16 per cent) said they were now eating out more often compared with just four per cent who did so less often. These figures were almost reversed among the smoking minority, with just one in 20 (five per cent) saying they ate out more often and one in seven (14 per cent) less often.
Of the sample interviewed, nearly one in four (23 per cent) said they never go to the pub. A further 57 per cent indicated that the smoking ban had not had any effect on how often they went to a pub. On balance an increase in frequency was noted, with 13 per cent increasing how often they went, compared with six per cent visiting less often.
Notably, non-smokers were now more likely to visit the pub, with almost one in five (17 per cent) increasing their visiting frequency since the introduction of the smoking ban and only three per cent now less likely to visit. Among smokers, 17 per cent indicated that they now visited the pub less often, although as many as nine per cent said they now visited more often, possibly because they had friends or partners who now found the pub a more pleasant environment.
Worryingly, the survey indicated that smoking was most prevalent among the youngest age groups (16-34), with 17 per cent indicating that they smoked, compared with 14 per cent of those aged 55 and over. Smoking was also more widespread among the lower socio-economic groups, with nearly one in five 19 per cent) of social groups C2, D and E indulging, compared with just 13 per cent of ABC1s.