Gambling’s Social Impact

By Jerry Price - Sep 1, 2005 -

“Gambling has … resulted in economic and social costs to individuals and families, as well as communities … Such costs include traffic congestion, demand for more public infrastructure or services (roads, schools, police, fire protection, etc.), environmental effects, displacement of local residents, increased crime, and pathological or problem gambling. To the extent that pathological gambling contributes to bankruptcy and bad debts, these increase the cost of credit throughout the economy. We use the term ‘costs’ to include the negative consequences of pathological gambling for gamblers, their immediate social environments, and the larger community.”

Committee on the Social and Economic Impact of Pathological Gambling, Pathological Gambling: A Critical Review (Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1999), 156-157.

Women are increasingly being drawn into gambling, and the number who are becoming addicted is growing. Men still make up two-thirds of all problem gamblers, but the numbers are beginning to shift more toward women. Video gambling seems to be the biggest draw since they produce quick results. Women seem to be more addicted to the next win, while men are more interested in games of skill and control.

Josh Montez, Gambling Increasingly Luring Women, (Family News in Focus), April 25, 2005

A study conducted by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and Penn State College of Medicine found that many senior citizens are falling prey to the lure of gambling—something many cannot afford. The researchers interviewed 843 senior citizens and found that almost 70 percent said that they had taken part in at least one gambling activity in the past year. Almost 11 percent of that number were found to be “at risk,” often betting more than $100 in a single bet. Many said they often bet more than they could afford to lose. They also found that older women are just as likely as men to gamble and develop gambling problems.

Dr. David Oslin, the senior author of the study published by the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, said, “These senior who are at risk may not be ready for Gamblers Anonymous but many of them don’t have a lot of money and spending on gambling could mean that they won’t have anything left to buy medicines.”

Study: Many Elderly Gamblers Bet More That They Should, (USA Today), January 19, 2005

What is the real impact of gambling? The following facts from the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling highlight the problem:

  • Gambling costs more than raising taxes, even for those who NEVER gamble! Each compulsive gambler costs the economy between $14,006 and $22,077 per year. If two percent become addicted, that’s $280 to $440 per year paid by every other citizen!
  • Most casinos attract 80 percent or more of their market from a 35-50 mile radius. Casinos absorb existing entertainment, restaurant and hotel business, and deplete dollars available to other retail businesses. That destroys other jobs in the trade area and eliminates their sales, employment and property tax contributions.
  • Legalizing gambling does not reduce illegal gambling. Legalized gambling may even increase illegal gambling because untaxed illegal operators may offer better odds, bigger payoffs and loans that legal operations cannot. Patrons in gambling states feel gambling is generally legal and they are less averse to gambling in unlicensed establishments. Law enforcement in gambling states see illegal gambling as a state revenue issue rather than a criminal activity, and may be less motivated to investigate.
  • When gambling appears in a community, it brings a wave of addiction. In a mature gambling market, compulsive gambling typically seizes the lives of 1.5 percent to 2.5 percent of the adult population. That amounts to three to five times the number of people suffering from cancer.
  • Addiction rates double within 50 miles of a casino. Probable pathological gambling in Nevada in 2000 measured 3.5 percent. Other states ranged from 2.1 percent in North Dakota in 2000 to 4.9 percent in Mississippi in 1996. A casino within 10 miles of a home yields a 90 percent increased risk of its occupants becoming pathological or problem gamblers. Neighborhood disadvantage increases that risk another 69 percent. Slots and other gambling machines push susceptible players to the pathological level in an average of 1.08 years, vs. 3.58 years with more “conventional” forms of table and racetrack gambling.
  • It takes three to five years for gamblers in a newly opened market to exhaust their resources. When addiction ripens in the market, so do the social costs.
    The most recent study of all the casino counties in the nation confirmed personal bankruptcy rates are 100 percent higher in counties with casinos than in counties without casinos.
  • Desperate to “chase” and recover gambling losses, pathological gamblers often turn to crime. Fraud and embezzlement become common among formerly hard-working and highly trusted people. Violent crimes also increase. Three years after the introduction of casinos in Atlantic City, there was a tripling of total crimes. Per capita crime there jumped from 50th in the nation to first. Expect suicides.

Adapted from Getting Started with Basic Gambling Facts, (National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling) [Accessed May 4, 2005]

Further Learning

Learn more about: Family, Addictions, Gambling