By Kang Seung-woo
Blue-collar workers are found to still drink and smoke more than their white-collar counterparts, a state-run statistical office said Tuesday.
However, they also see a silver lining, as their spending on liquor and cigarette has declined.
According to Statistics Korea, blue-collar workers’ average expenditure on the two items per month stood at 33,175 won ($29.72) last year, compared with 24,182 won spent by white-collar workers.
Blue-collar workers perform manual labor and earn an hourly wage, while white-collar workers carry out non-manual labor often in an office and earn a monthly or annual salary rather than an hourly wage.
Blue-collar workers were well ahead of white-collar ones in terms of the ratio of spending on the two items in 2010, as the former’s amount accounted for 1.65 percent of their monthly spending of 2 million won against 0.84 percent of 2.86 million won by the latter.
But those in the working classes have reduced their spending on alcohol and cigarettes.
The amount registered 34,099 won in 2008, 33,544 won in 2009 before amounting to 33,175 won last year.
On the other hand, white-collar workers drank and smoked more last year more than the previous one, as their spending reached 24,182 won in 2010, compared with 23,214 won in 2009.
Meanwhile, those who are engaged in the service industry and salespeople are also spending more on tobacco and alcohol.
They made 2.21 million won on average in 2010, but they spent 28,576 won on drinking and smoking, representing 1.29 percent of their total earnings and the proportion has been rising steadily over the past three years.
The amount was tallied at 25,663 won in 2008, accounting for 1.24 percent of total income, and 26,639, or 1.25 percent the following year.