The history of smoking in women differs significantly from that of men. In addition to appearing 25-30 years after the upsurge of smoking in men during the 1920's, the increase in smoking in women reflected differing initiation patterns, maintenance and cessation (quitting) methods. Smoking in women began to accelerate in the 1940s and 1950s, increasing from approximately 18% of women in 1935 to a peak of 33.4% in 1965. It remained at about that level until 1977, then began to decrease gradually to about 22.8% in 1998.

Astonishingly, a decade later, the numbers have decreased, but not dramatically. Although men still smoke more than women, as of 2007, approximately 21% of men smoke, and 17% of women smoke in the United States. Given the data made available initially by the US Surgeon General, followed by the work of thousands of health care researchers, health care providers and consumers, and through the Internet since then, the tobacco industry still manages to recruit and maintain a strong following of smokers. Clearly, information and education is not enough to prevent or help people quit smoking. Nearly 1/5 adults in the US are still smoking.

While smoking rates are slowly decreasing in the US, it is increasing in other countries. There is no big surprise there. As the tobacco industry is getting squeezed out of the US market by federal, state and local laws, the tobacco industry has shifted massive marketing budgets to countries where law-makers can be more easily convinced to allow tobacco sales, and where consumer protection groups won't hinder their efforts.

Initiation and Maintenance Patterns

Since 1977, smoking prevalence has been consistently higher for female high school seniors than males. During the 1970s and 1980s the use of smokeless tobacco increased dramatically among young males in the United States. Except for Native American females, who are as likely as males to use these products, regular use of smokeless tobacco is pointing to the need for careful attention to possible changes in female use patterns.

Interestingly, smoking among women does not appear to be affected by employment status. Moreover, occupational differences are less predictive of smoking for women than for men; to the extent that occupational differences in prevalence are noted, they seem to be linked to socio-economic status. Fewer Caucasian than African American women smoke (although African American women are lighter smokers), and fewer Hispanic than non-Hispanic women smoke. A much larger factor accounting for variation in smoking rates is education (a marker of socioeconomic status). Conclusively, for both genders, the less educated are most likely to smoke (regardless of gender).

Originally published 5/29/98

Revised 8/25/08 by Marlene M. Maheu, Ph.D.