Table 1. Social and demographic characteristics of the study population and the rate of current and lifelong tobacco use.
| n | % | Rate of current tobacco use % | Rate of lifelong tobacco use % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sex | ||||
| Male | 2886 | 49.4 | 18.3 | 52.1 |
| Female | 2954 | 50.6 | 18.7 | 49.2 |
| Parental social class at birth | ||||
| Unskilled (V) | 428 | 7.3 | 25.2 | 54.0 |
| Partly skilled (IV) | 680 | 11.6 | 22.1 | 53.2 |
| Skilled manual (III) | 2846 | 48.7 | 19.4 | 51.4 |
| Skilled non-manual (III) | 644 | 11.0 | 15.4 | 48.4 |
| Managerial\tech (II) | 923 | 15.8 | 14.2 | 48.0 |
| Professional (I) | 319 | 5.5 | 12.2 | 46.4 |
| Educational qualifications at age 33 | ||||
| No qualifications | 419 | 7.2 | 37.5 | 69.7 |
| CSE 2-5/equivalent NVQ1 | 657 | 11.3 | 28.3 | 61.9 |
| O Level/equivalent NVQ2 | 2014 | 34.5 | 19.8 | 53.3 |
| A level/equivalent NVQ 3 | 907 | 15.5 | 15.1 | 46.6 |
| Higher qualification/equivalent NVQ4 | 960 | 16.4 | 14.4 | 46.9 |
| University Degree/equivalent NVQ 5, 6 | 883 | 15.1 | 7.1 | 35.4 |
| Own current social class at age 50 | ||||
| Unskilled (V) | 120 | 2.1 | 34.2 | 64.2 |
| Partly skilled (IV) | 626 | 10.7 | 27.0 | 57.3 |
| Skilled manual (III) | 1026 | 17.6 | 25.2 | 59.8 |
| Skilled non-manual (III) | 1213 | 20.8 | 17.6 | 47.0 |
| Managerial\tech (II) | 2480 | 42.5 | 14.7 | 47.3 |
| Professional (I) | 375 | 6.4 | 8.5 | 43.7 |