Study: Powerball Lottery hurts poor families
Data suggests lottery negatively impacts poor people. A study by the Vermont Lottery Commission suggests there’s a link between lottery ticket sales and areas with higher-than-average poverty. According to Times Argus, “The top sellers of lottery tickets in central Vermont are located in Berlin and Barre, and a retailer in Berlin is a third biggest seller in the state. Rutland and St. Albans also featured prominently on the list of top statewide sellers.” In fact, Liz Scharf, savings and credit coordinator at Capstone Community Action, an organization that works with individuals and families to move out of poverty said, “Do I think it (the lottery) targets poor people? Yeah, I do. It’s my personal opinion that it probably targets lower income people.”
“Do I think it (the lottery) targets poor people? Yeah, I do. It’s my personal opinion that it probably targets lower income people.”
In a scathing report by the Atlantic called “Lotteries: America’s $70 Billion Shame” the report goes on to explain how lotteries negatively affect poor families and is an unusual tax keeping the poor, unfortunately poor.
“The poorest third of households buy half of all lotto tickets, according to a Duke University study in the 1980s, in part because lotteries are advertised most aggressively in poorer neighborhoods. A North Carolina report from NC Policy Watch found that the people living in the poorest counties buy the most tickets. “Out of the 20 counties with poverty rates higher than 20 percent, 18 had lottery sales topping the statewide average of $200 per adult,” the North Carolina Justice Center reported.”
“The poorest third of households buy half of all lotto tickets”
In addition, a California survey found nthat people who earn less than $30,000 see the lottery as a way to actually make money and is not a source of entertainment. “Local lottery ticket sales rise with poverty, but movie ticket sales do not. In other words, lotto games are not merely another form of cheap entertainment. They are also a prayer against poverty.” Researchers say this is a type of social psychology phenomenom called the “relative desperation theory,” where people determine their happiness based around what they see. And if states continously showcase lottery ads in poor communities, people will feel more and more desperate. In turn, as the Atlantic points out, “States are making their most hopeless citizens addicted to gambling to pay for government services.”
Regardless, the next Powerball drawing is this Wednesday night and the chances of winning the Powerball are 1 in 292.2 million.
