9% of young US employees use alcohol, drugs at work, study finds
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 11-Jul-2025 15:10 ET (11-Jul-2025 19:10 GMT/UTC)
Almost 1 in 10 workers in their 30s uses alcohol, marijuana or hard drugs like cocaine while on the job in the United States, a new study has found. The risk for substance use among young employees was highest in the food preparation/service industry and in safety-sensitive occupations including construction – a sector linked in previous research with a high risk for drug overdose deaths. Based on their prior studies of workplace strategies related to employee substance use, the researchers say these new findings suggest comprehensive substance use policies and supportive interventions could improve safety and help reduce workers’ misuse of alcohol and drugs.
Older Baby Boomer workers are delaying retirement due to rising State Pension age while younger Gen X workers are holding onto unrealistic early retirement hopes.
As rising prices continue to strain household budgets around the world, understanding who is most affected by inflation has become more urgent than ever. Researchers found that the cost-of-living crisis hit middle- and upper-income households harder than the poorest. A recent study challenges the reliability of traditional inflation measures like the Consumer Price Index and offers fresh insights for designing smarter, more targeted relief policies.
The use of technology to improve quality of life and education is one of the great challenges of the 21st century. In this context, the project led by Rafael Berlanga, professor in the Department of Computer Languages and Systems, and Lledó Museros Cabedo, senior lecturer in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the Universitat Jaume I, investigates how to apply explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) to promote healthy habits, enhance cognitive abilities and foster social inclusion.
This research, included in the XAI4SOC-UJI project and funded by the 2021 State Scientific Research Plan, responds to the call of the United Nations General Assembly's Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021-2030), which promotes the empowerment of older people to remain active citizens, while educating young people in values and habits that improve well-being. In this context, XAI4SOC-UJI combines advanced technologies, such as cognitive video games and conversational systems, to help adolescents in particular to develop spatial reasoning skills and to recognise and manage emotions.