Smoking among younger middle-class women has jumped more than 25% in the last decade, according to new research.  By contrast, smoking rates fell among working-class women.

Using data from the Smoking Toolkit Study, an ongoing monthly survey of adults in England, researchers from University College London (UCL) looked at the smoking habits of 197,266 people, including 44,052 women of reproductive age (18 to 45). They found smoking rates in more advantaged women rose from 11.7% to 14.9% between 2013 and 2023, while rates among women in lower socioeconomic groups fell from 28.7% to 22.4%.

Smoking rates among men remained stable across the decade. Meanwhile, vaping among all women aged 18 to 45 has more than tripled in a decade.

Almost one fifth (19.7%) of women reported vaping in 2023 - up from 5.1% in 2013. The reasons for younger middle class women smoking more were "unclear.