Economic (In)Justice
How the lottery would hurt our most vulnerable citizens
The lottery is a regressive tax that preys on the poorest and most vulnerable citizens in our society. Those who can least afford it play lotteries most, while more affluent citizens reap the benefits. If we truly believe the best way to judge a government is by how it treats its most vulnerable citizens — children, seniors, and the poor, then for the state to bet on a lottery would be a self-defeating proposition.
Lotteries have been shown to endanger the psychological health of our children by promoting problem gambling, to prey on seniors on fixed incomes with false promises, and to take money disproportionately from the households of low-income families. In fact, a lottery acts as a Robin Hood in reverse by taking from the poor to benefit the wealthy.
Predatory Economics: Those Who Can Least Afford It, Spend Most
Gamblers with household incomes of less than $10,000 bet nearly three times as much on lotteries as those with incomes over $50,000, according to the National Gambling Impact Study Commission. The top 5 percent of players (who played $3,870 or more) accounted for over 50 percent of total lottery sales; the top 20 percent of players accounted for 82 percent of sales.
National Gambling Impact Study Commission (NGISC), p. xxiii; "State Lotteries at the Turn of the Century: Report to the National Gambling Impact Study Commission," Charles T. Clotfelter, Philip J. Cook, Julie A. Edell and Marian Moore, Duke University, April 23, 1999, p. 12.
Poor and Less Educated are Most Likely to be Heavy Players
In Maryland, almost half — 47 percent — of the state's heavy players come from households earning less than $20,000 a year. An almost equal number — 48 percent — have a high school diploma or less.
Ira Chinoy and Charles Babington, "Low-income players feed lottery cash cow," Washington Post, May 3, 1998, p. A1.
Bottom Two Percent in Texas Carry Biggest Load
Texas' poorest citizens earn only two percent of the state's total income; yet buy 10 percent of the state's lottery tickets.
Data produced by Charlotte Steeh, Georgia State University, Applied Research Center, School of Policy Studies, September 10, 1998.
Bottom Third in Maryland Buy Half of Tickets
A 1994 report on the gambling habits of Maryland's lottery players found that the poorest one-third of the state's population purchase half of the state's lottery tickets. In addition, one-third of Maryland families with an annual income of less than $10,000 spent one-fifth of their incomes on lotteries. A similar study conducted in Connecticut revealed that those with incomes of less than $5,000 spent 14 times as much on the lottery as those with incomes above $25,000.
Ronald P. Keevan, "Pros and cons of gambling amendment: Money used for legal betting drains resources for the poor," St. Louis Post-Dispatch [MO], March 27, 1994, p. 3B.
Lotteries Target Poor and Minority Neighborhoods
According to a study conducted by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, ticket sales during the first year of Georgia's lottery were highest in neighborhoods with the lowest income levels and the highest proportion of minority residents. In ZIP codes with average household incomes below $20,000, the lottery sold $249 worth of tickets per resident, compared with $97 in ZIP codes with incomes exceeding $40,000. Per-capita ticket sales were also twice as high in areas populated primarily by minorities when compared with the ZIP codes of urban areas that are at least 90 percent white.
Charles Walston, "Has the gamble paid off?" Atlanta Constitution, June 26, 1994, p.D1.
The Washington Post compared lottery ticket sales in Washington, D.C., by ZIP code in 1997. They found that, as the median household income in a ZIP code declines, ticket sales significantly increase.
Charles Babington and Ira Chinoy, "Lotteries lure players with slick marketing," Washington Post, May 4, 1998, p. A1.
High School Dropouts Spend More on Lottery than College Graduates
Spending on lottery tickets sharply declines as players' education increases, according to Duke University public policy professor Philip J. Cook. High school dropouts, for example, spend an average of $597 annually on lottery tickets, compared to $229 annually for college graduates.
Barry M. Horstman, "Lottery sales: Poorest buy most tickets," Cincinnati Post, March 20, 1999.
A 1994 Study in Detroit, Michigan found that persons with less than a high school diploma spend over five times more as a percentage of their income, than those with a college degree. Researchers Mary Herring and Timothy Bledsoe noted: "The degree of lottery participation is a declining function of income and education, and participation is higher among black, male, and older respondents.
Mary Herring and Timothy Bledsoe, "A model of lottery participation: Demographics, context and attitudes," Policy Studies Journal, vol. 22 (Summer 1994), pp. 245-257.
Lottery Losings Add Up
Father Thomas O'Gorman, a priest serving a poor, largely African-American congregation on Chicago's West Side, supplies a poignant example of the amount of spending on the lottery by the poor. One Sunday, out of curiosity, he asked his parishioners to save their losing tickets and bring them to services next week. The following Sunday he collected nearly $5,000 in losing ticket stubs.
Robert McClory, "The Big Gamble," Chicago Reader, May 11, 1992, p. 18.
Lottery Runs Counter to Judeo-Christian Values
"Do not rob the poor, because he is poor, or crush the afflicted at the gate; for the LORD will plead their cause and despoil of life those who despoil them."
Proverbs 22:22-23
Lottery Advertising Sells False Promises
A lottery advertisement in New York showed a mother teasing a daughter for studying for a scholarship. After all, Mom had already bought a lottery ticket to solve their financial problems.
An advertisement in Illinois even showed a gentleman mocking those who invest their money in stocks and bonds; he prefers to put it into the lottery.
Neal Peirce, "Lotteries are getting serious and crazy," The Plain Dealer [Cleveland, Ohio], May 9, 1989.
Several years ago, a lottery billboard went up on a street in a low-income neighborhood in Chicago that read, "How to get from Washington Street to Easy Street — Play the Illinois Lottery."
"General Assembly to grapple with issue of lottery advertising," The Sun News, (Myrtle Beach SC) Monday, December 18, 2000
Unemployed Gamble Disproportionately on Lottery
Four out of every ten lottery players in California are unemployed.
Matt Friederman, "Government-sponsored lotteries make a business of creating losers," Clarion-Ledger [Jackson MS] 10/21/92, p. 11A.
Gambling Begets Other Problem Behaviors Among Children
Adolescents with gambling problems are also more likely to have tried many illegal drugs, including cocaine, steroids, and inhalants, according to a 1998 report by the American Academy of Pediatrics. The same report also found that adolescent problem gambling was associated with increased instances of violence-related behaviors such as carrying a weapon and being involved in a fight.
Jenny Proimos, Robert DuRant, Elizabeth Goodman, "Gambling and other risk behaviors among 8th to 12th grade students," Pediatrics, August 1998.
Seniors Can be Devastated by Gambling Losses
The spread of legalized gambling across the nation has also led to an increase in the number of senior citizens facing financial ruin because of problem gambling. Seniors face a bigger problem because many live on fixed incomes and often are financially crushed by the time they seek help.
Robert Sargent, "Gaming industry finding retirees are good bet," Orlando Sentinel, February 9, 1998.
The lottery is a regressive tax that preys on the poorest and most vulnerable citizens in our society. Those who can least afford it play lotteries most, while more affluent citizens reap the benefits. If we truly believe the best way to judge a government is by how it treats its most vulnerable citizens — children, seniors, and the poor, then for the state to bet on a lottery would be a self-defeating proposition.
Lotteries have been shown to endanger the psychological health of our children by promoting problem gambling, to prey on seniors on fixed incomes with false promises, and to take money disproportionately from the households of low-income families. In fact, a lottery acts as a Robin Hood in reverse by taking from the poor to benefit the wealthy.
Predatory Economics: Those Who Can Least Afford It, Spend Most
Gamblers with household incomes of less than $10,000 bet nearly three times as much on lotteries as those with incomes over $50,000, according to the National Gambling Impact Study Commission. The top 5 percent of players (who played $3,870 or more) accounted for over 50 percent of total lottery sales; the top 20 percent of players accounted for 82 percent of sales.
National Gambling Impact Study Commission (NGISC), p. xxiii; "State Lotteries at the Turn of the Century: Report to the National Gambling Impact Study Commission," Charles T. Clotfelter, Philip J. Cook, Julie A. Edell and Marian Moore, Duke University, April 23, 1999, p. 12.
Poor and Less Educated are Most Likely to be Heavy Players
In Maryland, almost half — 47 percent — of the state's heavy players come from households earning less than $20,000 a year. An almost equal number — 48 percent — have a high school diploma or less.
Ira Chinoy and Charles Babington, "Low-income players feed lottery cash cow," Washington Post, May 3, 1998, p. A1.
Bottom Two Percent in Texas Carry Biggest Load
Texas' poorest citizens earn only two percent of the state's total income; yet buy 10 percent of the state's lottery tickets.
Data produced by Charlotte Steeh, Georgia State University, Applied Research Center, School of Policy Studies, September 10, 1998.
Bottom Third in Maryland Buy Half of Tickets
A 1994 report on the gambling habits of Maryland's lottery players found that the poorest one-third of the state's population purchase half of the state's lottery tickets. In addition, one-third of Maryland families with an annual income of less than $10,000 spent one-fifth of their incomes on lotteries. A similar study conducted in Connecticut revealed that those with incomes of less than $5,000 spent 14 times as much on the lottery as those with incomes above $25,000.
Ronald P. Keevan, "Pros and cons of gambling amendment: Money used for legal betting drains resources for the poor," St. Louis Post-Dispatch [MO], March 27, 1994, p. 3B.
Lotteries Target Poor and Minority Neighborhoods
According to a study conducted by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, ticket sales during the first year of Georgia's lottery were highest in neighborhoods with the lowest income levels and the highest proportion of minority residents. In ZIP codes with average household incomes below $20,000, the lottery sold $249 worth of tickets per resident, compared with $97 in ZIP codes with incomes exceeding $40,000. Per-capita ticket sales were also twice as high in areas populated primarily by minorities when compared with the ZIP codes of urban areas that are at least 90 percent white.
Charles Walston, "Has the gamble paid off?" Atlanta Constitution, June 26, 1994, p.D1.
The Washington Post compared lottery ticket sales in Washington, D.C., by ZIP code in 1997. They found that, as the median household income in a ZIP code declines, ticket sales significantly increase.
Charles Babington and Ira Chinoy, "Lotteries lure players with slick marketing," Washington Post, May 4, 1998, p. A1.
High School Dropouts Spend More on Lottery than College Graduates
Spending on lottery tickets sharply declines as players' education increases, according to Duke University public policy professor Philip J. Cook. High school dropouts, for example, spend an average of $597 annually on lottery tickets, compared to $229 annually for college graduates.
Barry M. Horstman, "Lottery sales: Poorest buy most tickets," Cincinnati Post, March 20, 1999.
A 1994 Study in Detroit, Michigan found that persons with less than a high school diploma spend over five times more as a percentage of their income, than those with a college degree. Researchers Mary Herring and Timothy Bledsoe noted: "The degree of lottery participation is a declining function of income and education, and participation is higher among black, male, and older respondents.
Mary Herring and Timothy Bledsoe, "A model of lottery participation: Demographics, context and attitudes," Policy Studies Journal, vol. 22 (Summer 1994), pp. 245-257.
Lottery Losings Add Up
Father Thomas O'Gorman, a priest serving a poor, largely African-American congregation on Chicago's West Side, supplies a poignant example of the amount of spending on the lottery by the poor. One Sunday, out of curiosity, he asked his parishioners to save their losing tickets and bring them to services next week. The following Sunday he collected nearly $5,000 in losing ticket stubs.
Robert McClory, "The Big Gamble," Chicago Reader, May 11, 1992, p. 18.
Lottery Runs Counter to Judeo-Christian Values
"Do not rob the poor, because he is poor, or crush the afflicted at the gate; for the LORD will plead their cause and despoil of life those who despoil them."
Proverbs 22:22-23
Lottery Advertising Sells False Promises
A lottery advertisement in New York showed a mother teasing a daughter for studying for a scholarship. After all, Mom had already bought a lottery ticket to solve their financial problems.
An advertisement in Illinois even showed a gentleman mocking those who invest their money in stocks and bonds; he prefers to put it into the lottery.
Neal Peirce, "Lotteries are getting serious and crazy," The Plain Dealer [Cleveland, Ohio], May 9, 1989.
Several years ago, a lottery billboard went up on a street in a low-income neighborhood in Chicago that read, "How to get from Washington Street to Easy Street — Play the Illinois Lottery."
"General Assembly to grapple with issue of lottery advertising," The Sun News, (Myrtle Beach SC) Monday, December 18, 2000
Unemployed Gamble Disproportionately on Lottery
Four out of every ten lottery players in California are unemployed.
Matt Friederman, "Government-sponsored lotteries make a business of creating losers," Clarion-Ledger [Jackson MS] 10/21/92, p. 11A.
Gambling Begets Other Problem Behaviors Among Children
Adolescents with gambling problems are also more likely to have tried many illegal drugs, including cocaine, steroids, and inhalants, according to a 1998 report by the American Academy of Pediatrics. The same report also found that adolescent problem gambling was associated with increased instances of violence-related behaviors such as carrying a weapon and being involved in a fight.
Jenny Proimos, Robert DuRant, Elizabeth Goodman, "Gambling and other risk behaviors among 8th to 12th grade students," Pediatrics, August 1998.
Seniors Can be Devastated by Gambling Losses
The spread of legalized gambling across the nation has also led to an increase in the number of senior citizens facing financial ruin because of problem gambling. Seniors face a bigger problem because many live on fixed incomes and often are financially crushed by the time they seek help.
Robert Sargent, "Gaming industry finding retirees are good bet," Orlando Sentinel, February 9, 1998.
