Loren Lippincott
Legalizing gambling is often sold as an easy win for governments, but it usually turns out to be a losing bet for society as a whole. Casinos, sports betting apps and lotteries promise jobs and tax money for schools or roads, but in reality the shortterm revenues are far outweighed by the societal damage they create. Gambling hurts families, fuels crime and leaves communities paying out more than they ever collect in taxes.
Gambling addiction does not stay at the casino or on a phone. It invades homes, where families pay the highest price. In order to hide their losses, problem gamblers often drain savings accounts, max out credit cards or try to borrow from relatives. Studies show many gambling addicts face debts of $50,000 to $100,000 and nearly a quarter of them end up filing for bankruptcy. Money meant for rent, food, children’s clothes or retirement simply disappears.
Trust evaporates when lies pile up, destroying relationships. Problem gamblers are more than twice as likely to divorce and the incidence of intimate partner violence rises. Research links legalized online sports betting to a nearly 10 percent increase in domestic violence. Children often suffer most, as they face emotional distress, neglect, poverty and a higher chance of eventually developing gambling problems themselves. One person’s gambling addiction typically harms about five other people.
After states legalize sports betting, diagnoses of gambling disorder jump more than 60 percent, especially among young men. The addiction is often quiet until the damage is huge, evidenced in unpaid bills, emptied accounts and broken homes.
Legal gambling also leads to illegal behavior. More gambling tends to link directly to more crime. Research from Australia found that every 10 percent rise in gambling expenditures results in 11 percent increases in assaults, break-ins, car thefts and fraud. Legal sports betting in the U.S. has been linked to sharp increases in postgame assaults, with incidents nearly doubling in some cases following upset losses.
Casinos and betting markets have long been linked to increases in fraud, embezzlement, and property crimes as people chase losses or steal to keep playing. Historical data from places that opened casinos often showed jumps in overall crime rates. Prostitution has also appeared more frequently in some casino areas, with police reporting increased activity and related problems. While not every study finds the same pattern for every crime, the overall picture is clear: easier access to gambling brings more desperation, more theft and more disorder.
While sports betting and casinos do generate tax revenues — sometimes hundreds of millions per state — that money comes mostly from the losses of problem gamblers and lower-income households. It is a regressive tax that hits the most vulnerable the hardest.
But tax revenues must be weighed against the huge social costs. Costs of addiction treatment, related mental health care, welfare support, lost productivity at work, law enforcement, family breakdown and child welfare all add up. In one U.S. analysis, the medical and related costs from sports betting nearly matched or exceeded the tax take in certain states. In Victoria, Australia, the total cost of gambling problems reached billions, with government costs alone equaling a large share of the tax revenue collected. Swedish research found societal costs more than double the tax revenue from gambling and UK estimates put the fiscal burden of problem gambling in the billions annually — mainly in welfare, health, justice and homelessness.
When households spend money on gambling instead of saving or investing, the wider economy loses too. Studies show gambling results in reduced savings, lower credit scores, higher bankruptcies and less money flowing into productive uses.
Legalizing gambling expands addiction, breaks up families, increases crime and shifts costs onto taxpayers and communities. The tax revenue looks attractive on paper but fails to cover the full bill of ruined lives, higher public spending and weaker households.
In considering the issue we need to remember that money is earned and providentially given to us to meet legitimate needs, care for others, support God’s work and live with an eternal perspective. We would do well to keep in mind the Scripture that says, “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils!” (1 Tim. 6:10)
Loren Lippincott represents Legislative District 34 in the Nebraska State Senate. Read his column in the Nance County Journal.