States are now increasing taxes on alcohol, which means possible increase in its retail prices. While that may sound like quite a bad deal, especially for those who like to drink, overall, it offers two benefits: better health and more jobs.
In an article published in the website of American Public Health Association (APHA), a study shows that, first, lawmakers will be able to achieve its goal for the tax increase: reduce people's dependency on alcohol and improve their well-being. But what's even more interesting is that it can also slightly increase the number of jobs.
This study was conducted by the scientists of Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth and University of Illinois-Chicago. It was later presented during the recent yearly meeting of the association, held in New Orleans.
Using an online tool they also developed, they discovered that based on the possible tax increases across 50 states and the country's capital Washington DC, California can increase jobs to 21,500, using the state's general fund, if the cost per drink is 5 cents more. If the alcohol price increases to 25 cents, the state can create around 95,000 jobs.
Louisiana, on the other hand, can potentially boost its jobs to at least 850 for 5 cents' increase for every drink. However, if it increases the alcohol cost to 20 cents more, it can significantly boost its job openings to almost 4,000.
Moreover, if you're an excessive drinker, then you are expected to pay more taxes. If you're in California, for example, you pay almost 80% more taxes than those who don't drink. In New York, avid drinkers may end up paying $11.06 more tax compared to less than $3 for non-excessive drinkers for a 5-cent increase per drink.
All these figures suggest that, contrary to what alcohol advocates say, increase in alcohol taxes doesn't result to job loss but rather they generate more employment opportunities.
However, using the same tax simulation model, which can now be accessed at http://www.camy.org/taxtool, as the price of alcohol increases, drinkers drink less.