Lower levels of occupation, income and education are strongly associated with a longer smoking duration: Multivariate results from the 2001 Australian National Drug Strategy Survey

Smokers from lower social strata smoke for much longer durations. This finding and the fact that smoking increases the likelihood of financial stress suggest that lower SES smokers who experience financial stress are more likely to suffer a longer period of compromised living standards than their counterparts in the higher strata. The financial and health burdens of smoking coupled with social inequalities in smoking behaviour suggest that smoking may exacerbate social class differences in health and standards of living. Thus, targeting smoking among disadvantaged groups would not only represent a public health policy but also a social policy to reduce social inequalities.