Youth Substance Use and Family Income

The NSDUH Report:  Youth Substance Use and Family Income

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 Highlights:

• Based on SAMHSA's 2003 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 18% of youths age 12 to 17 (4.6 million) lived in families with annual incomes of less than $20,000 per year, 35% (8.8 million) in families with incomes between $20,000 to $49,999, 19% (4.8 million) in families with incomes between $50,000 to $74,999, and 27.6% in families with incomes of $75,000 or more.

• The lower the family income, the more likely that the youths had used cigarettes or an illegal drug in their lifetime. Youths in families with annual incomes of less than $20,000 were equally likely to have ever used alcohol or inhalants as those in families with incomes of $75,000 or more.

• Youths age 12 to 17 in families with annual incomes of less than $20,000 were more likely to have smoked cigarettes in their lifetime than those in families with incomes of $75,000 or more (35.4% vs. 25.2%).

• An estimated 15% of youths in families with annual incomes of less than $20,000 had ever used prescription-type drugs nonmedically compared with 11% of those in families with incomes of $75,000 or more.

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This Short Report, The NSDUH Report:  Youth Substance Use and Family Income, is based on SAMHSA's  National Survey on Drug Use and Health, formerly called the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA) conducted by the Office of Applied Studies (OAS) in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).  SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NHSDA/NSDUH) is the primary source of information on the prevalence, patterns, and consequences of drug and alcohol use and abuse in the general U.S. civilian non institutionalized population, age 12 and older.   The NHSDA/NSDUH also provides estimates for drug use by state.