Smoking among middle-class women in England up by 25% in 10 years – study

Rate rose among middle-class women aged 18 to 45 and fell among working-class women of same age

The number of younger middle-class women who smoke has jumped 25% over the past decade, according to research.

Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death and illness in the UK and accounts for 76,000 deaths annually. Experts from UCL examined data from nearly 200,000 adult participants in the Smoking Toolkit Study, a monthly survey of adults in England. Just over 44,000 were women aged 18-45.