Alcohol across the life course

Explore how alcohol can impact us in different ways across our lifespans - from alcohol and fertility, parenting, fitness, the workplace, menopause and more.

Explore our alcohol across the life course information hub

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Alcohol and fertility

There are lots of different things that can negatively affect someone’s fertility, in particular their age (fertility naturally declines roughly around the age of 35) and if they are overweight.
Pregnant
Drinking in pregnancy: how should the guidance work?

Dr James Nicholls | May 2018 | 10 minutes

How should advice on alcohol and pregnancy be communicated?
Pregnant friends relaxing on sofa at home talking together
Alcohol-free drinks popular during pregnancy

December 2025 | 13 minutes

New research shows women have consumed alcohol-free or low-alcohol drinks during pregnancy, but guidelines are lacking.
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Managing your drinking now you're a parent

Raising children can be stressful, and the pandemic has piled additional pressures on parents.
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Alcohol and parenting

We all like to do our best for our children but sometimes we are not too sure what that is.
Portrait of son hugging his parent, together at home, with hand on his shoulder comforting him.
Parents who drink too much alcohol

Living with a parent or carer who drinks harmfully can be very difficult for a child.
Concerned senior women
Alcohol and relationships: how alcohol can affect us

Alcohol can affect our relationships in all sorts of ways and can have a negative impact on our own health and wellbeing and that of those we love.
Mixed portrait of smiling business people looking at camera standing in modern office.
Alcohol in the workplace

Around 10 million of us regularly drink alcohol in ways that can harm our health and wellbeing.
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Alcohol and menopause

One of the questions we often get asked is how alcohol affects the body during menopause.
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Alcohol and prescription medication

Almost all of us will, at some point, have to take a course of medication prescribed by a doctor.
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Drinking trends in the UK

From sleepless nights and high blood pressure to anxiety and cancer, alcohol adversely affects our physical and mental well-being.
Support Group
Alcohol and other drugs

Alcohol is by far the most widely-used recreational drug in the UK.

Your stories of alcohol's impact across the life course

Samantha Kingston3
Samantha’s story: Alcohol, my family and me

Samantha Kingston | April 2024 | 11 minutes

In 2018, Samantha lost her mum to stage four liver disease due to alcohol dependency.
A man wearing sunglasses on his head and a blue jacket smiles next to a lake and a mountain.
Fred's story: “It’s alarming how little alcohol it takes to feel the impacts"

April 2025 | 9 minutes

As retirement gave him more time and freedom, Fred embarked on a few months alcohol-free to better understand his relationship with alcohol.
GRM Pic Alice
Alice's story: “Workplaces need to be part of the conversation on alcohol”

July 2025 | 10 minutes

After countless workplace drinking events, Alice started to see alcohol differently.

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