Poverty leads to playing lottery, study says

[RamboLiberal]

Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Do you believe that playing the lottery can make you rich?

If you do, there's a good chance you're poor.

At least, that's according to a Carnegie Mellon University study published in the July issue of the Journal of Behavioral Decision Making.

"The conclusions are that the thoughts, feelings and cognitions related to poverty lead people to purchase lottery tickets," said Emily Haisley, lead author of the study and a doctoral student in the department of organizational behavior and theory at Carnegie Mellon's Tepper School of Business.

The study -- conducted with 100 people at the temporary Greyhound bus station on Second Avenue -- found that participants who were made to feel subjectively poor were nearly twice as likely to buy scratch-off lottery tickets as a comparison group made to feel subjectively more affluent.



Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08207/899406-298.stm

[billyoc]

1. All lottery schemes are an extra tax on the poor.

[Lorien]

2. Yep. And here in Florida our schools can't function without lottery

revenue. Since we don't have a state income tax and Jebby slashed taxes on the wealthiest, the schools figure lottery sales into their annual budgets. I try to buy a couple of tickets every month, at least. I figure I'm helping to make someone's dreams come true and helping to pay a teacher's salary, so I don't think that it's completely wasted money. I won $89 once, so that was a happy surprise. But yes, the lottery is just another way of making the poor pay while the rich skip out on even more taxes.

[noamnety]

6. The lottery isn't helping education so much in Florida.

The lottery was promised to the people of Florida as a way to "enhance" education. Every dollar, we were told in the 1986 campaign, was supposed to be an extra bonus, gravy for the kids of Florida, on top of what we were already spending.

(snip)

Education got almost 61 percent of Florida's general revenue in 1986-87, the year the voters approved the lottery. Today, it is getting only 53 percent.

The lottery provided the Legislature an excuse to take away from education. While lottery dollars came in the front door, the Legislature took away dollars out the back door.

Besides the loss of budget share, the Florida Lottery has a secondary bad effect - it has added to voter reluctance to support other ways of increasing school funding.

Full article: http://www.sptimes.com/2003/11/03/Columns/Don_t_be_fooled__lott.shtml

One of the issues they point out is that part of that money goes to merit-based scholarships (as opposed to need based). If Florida is anything like Michigan, that means the students who earn scholarships from standardized tests are those from the richest families, who need it the least. So you have the poorest citizens funding scholarships for the richest.

[LuckyLib]

32. If Florida's total is dropping, you ain't seen nothing yet. CA is now one percent.

California enacted the lottery based on the premise that it would fund education. Then proceeded to divert the $$$ into the general fund.


http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS123451+04-Jan-2008+BW20080104

[Spouting Horn]

18. If there is no state income tax

which taxes for the wealthy did jebby slash?

Aggregate revenues from property taxes went through the roof under jeb.

[The Croquist]

57. The lottery is not "just another way of making the poor pay"

The last I knew the lottery was voluntary.

[leftynyc]

29. Not really

Nobody is putting a gun to the head of lottery ticket buyers. They wont get fined or arrested if they don't buy the tickets.

[loyalsister]

3. hmmmm

I wonder if they factored in boredom as a variable. Sometimes people who are poor are also disabled or unemployed and it is simply a kind of entertainment. It may not be the most practical use of money, but I see no reason to judge.
I think there is a temptation to assume that people want to change their circumstances to be more like the majority when sometimes that is not necessarily the case.

[defendandprotect]

4. Excuse me, I have to go check my tickets . . . !!!

[BlooInBloo]

5. I love "water is wet" studies.

[killbotfactory]

7. That's because being poor fucking sucks

And once you are poor, despite propaganda saying otherwise, there is very little you can do to climb up the social ladder. The odds of making it out of poverty and into the upper classes are about as good as winning the lottery anyway. It's so rare that once it happens they make a movie about it. That should tell you something.

[sasquatch]

8. WINNER, WINNER, CHICKEN DINNER!!

:thumbsup:

[WriteDown]

22. That simply isn't true...

I was poor for many years. I took advantage of student loans and went to school. I remember eating saltines during the day just to feel full. And I probably ate a few thousand eggs during those years. I studied day and night, met with professors on a daily basis to go over the class materials and got A's. I went through several jobs and careers after that, but now and pretty solidly middle class. I'm even thinking about buying my own business. Oddly enough, I never played the lotto in those years being that my studies focused a lot on statistics. Even stranger is that I buy a ticket now about once a week just for fun. Just letting you know that there are options, but it is tough none the less.


Edited for grammar

[XemaSab]

35. And who's going to play you in the film?

:P

[WriteDown]

38. I was always hoping for.....

Daniel Craig, but George Clooney would do alright and we have more similar complexions B-)

[LanternWaste]

40. Some people have some options

Some people have some options. Other people have other options. Still other people have very few viable options.

It's a shame that not everyone has either the options or the opportunity to pull up their bootstraps as did you...

[killbotfactory]

41. Be proud of your work and your luck

Just realize that there is very, very little social mobility in the US. With hard work, and some luck, and some help, you can go from poor to middle class, and vice versa, but odds are greatly stacked against you if you try to go from poor to rich.

http://neweconomist.blogs.com/new_economist/2006/04/robin_naylor.html

[Gormy Cuss]

56. killbotfactory's assertion is essentially true.

Studies of income mobility across quintiles support the notion that it's harder for the poor to move up to the middle class than it is for the middle class to become rich, for example. In fact, it's harder for those from the lowest income quintile to move upward even to the second quintile of income distribution.

There are exceptions, naturally.

[Megahurtz]

25. You got that right. n/t

[24HRrnr]

45. I'm guessing

that you never started a business.

There are dozens that you could start for next to no cash - just work your ass off, learn to manage cash flow and revenue. Market the hell out what you do. Be the best at what you do.

And, btw, I'm proof that your wrong. Went from lowest quintile to second quantile in the last 20 years. Aiming higher.

[killbotfactory]

46. I would like to start my own business

however I've seen many, many small businesses go down the drain, and am under no illusions that every person whose poor is capable of starting a successful business from scratch and becoming rich. There are too many factors at play.

[24HRrnr]

55. Start with

Rich Dad, Poor Dad. You'll need to straighten out your head first. Then start borrowing every busines and success book you can lay your hands on. I strongly recommend 177 Mental Toughness Secrets of the World Class. Pay particular attention to the 61st secret.

Forget about failing. It probably will happen. Learn from it and keep going with the next idea.

The poor don't understand the system. The system doesn't go out of its way to educate them. Financial intelligence in this country is horrible.

[riverdeep]

53. One big disadvantage of being poor and not being able to move up,

is in not knowing how to work the system. Or how the system works. There is a cultural gap and things that people who grow up not poor know things that they take for granted. Things like how banking works, what to wear to a job interview, how to work acquaintances for leads on work, how to conduct yourself at parent teacher meetings, etc. Little things that add up.

[Hannah Bell]

9. gambling: run by rich people to take money from poorer people.

since it was "the numbers" in the ghetto: now a government financing device, & the timing = simultaneous with the loosening of the tax codes for the benefit of the rich.

[Sherman A1]

10. I think of the lottery as taxation

with a chance to get even or perhaps way ahead.

Of course it is a tax. However, in this case adults can choose to participate or choose not to do so. When Powerball gets over $100 million, I choose to do so, otherwise no.

If I choose to drive a car, I pay the taxes associated with that decision.

If I choose to have a fishing license, I pay the tax associated with that decision..

[KansDem]

42. "When Powerball gets over $100 million, I choose to do so, otherwise no."

I do the same thing. There's something about that nine-digit barrier--less and I don't think it worth my time (What? $99 million? Naahhh...not this time!), but more--then I'm buying my $5 ticket (Wow!!! $101 million! Here's my fin...!!!)

[pokercat999]

50. LOL me too. If you really want to get the "best" odds of

winning that dream ticket try this. Save the money you would normally play on a weekly basis then when there is a really big jackpot put it all down on that one drawing. Your odds go from maybe 1 in 75M to 526 in 75M. Of course if you've saved that $526 you might think twice about throwing it away.

On the other hand, $1 is not going to change my life, $6,000,000 WILL !

[Doctor_J]

59. Same here - my cutoff is about $50M.

Of course I don't follo it very closely, so I haven't purchased a ticket in years :-(

[conspirator]

11. Statisticians (fuckin hard word) say that you are more likely to be hit by a lightning

bolt than win the lottery.

[DetlefK]

12. Depends on the kind of lottery. Nevertheless the average gain is a negative amount of money.

Which means, you loose more than you win.

If you have to gamble at all, try roulette. By average ,you'll lose the least amount of money.

[WriteDown]

26. This is INSANE!!

Roulette has the some of the WORST odds in the casino. Blackjack and craps are literally your best bets if you know what you are doing.

[jaksavage]

30. I have two friends who were hit

by lightening
and I have seen strikes within 100 ft of me
I might have a chance!

[Blue_Tires]

39. even worse than that...

i read somewhere years ago that the chances of winning the mega millions was equivalent to going to Vegas and being dealt five consecutive straight flushes at the poker table, then leaving the casino and having the next five random people you meet share the same birthday....

[MrSlayer]

13. I think wanting to be rich leads you to play the lottery.

I have a good union job and am solid middle class (a dying breed for sure) but I still play the lottery. Why? Because I want to be rich without really busting my ass working for it so I can quit that good job. The choice between working a filthy construction site day after day or laying on a beach in Hawaii or wherever day after day figuring out which fun thing you're going to do next is no choice at all. The difference is, I can afford to throw away 10 bucks or whatever a week on the dream whereas that ten bucks might be dinner for a few days if stretched right for a really poor person. Of course the poor want to be rich, everyone wants to be rich. The people that are already rich want to be richer. There have been people that hit multiple big jackpots, which really pisses me off. The purpose of hitting the lottery is so you won't ever have to play the fucking lottery again. Multiple winners suck.

[dysfunctional press]

14. the study was conducted at the temporary greyhound bus station in pittsburgh...

sounds pretty scientific alright...how many "affluent" people took part in the study?

[XemaSab]

34. That was my first thought

:P

[fasttense]

15. I bet gambling casinos are doing well in this recession.

We went on a vacation we had booked back in November, when things were not so financially unstable. Everywhere we went there were very few people except at one place. The tourist rides and shops were practically empty. The fancy restaurants had so many empty tables, we never needed reservations and we frequently had entire rooms to ourself.

Only one place was doing a booming business - the Indian Casinos. They were packed.

[callous taoboy]

16. But, my Mepublican father says

its a way to collect a little tax revenue from folks who've been receiving a lot of their pay "under the table."

I really dislike lottery and other forms of gambling as it does raise revenues on the backs of the poor.

[JNelson6563]

17. There are some lottery junkies out there

As it is a form of gambling for some it is highly addictive. I can't tell you how annoying it is to be in line at the gas station behind some poor sod who's hopelessly addicted to the lottery. There they stand, mezmerized, like a kid at the penny candy counter in the days of old, agonizing over which scratch-offs to buy. I feel sorry for them and at the same time want to tell them to just pick some already so the rest of us can pay for our gas and get on with our lives.

Julie

[GOPNotForMe]

19. And today the sun rose! This rag thinks this is publication worthy...? nt

[Retrograde]

31. but did it rise in the east again?

BTW, the Buffalo News printed a similar study this past June: not only did the poorest areas buy the most lottery tickets, they tended to play the games with the lower payouts.

Where I grew up, it was said you could always tell a Catholic church by the bingo signs out front. Now the Catholic parishes tended to be in the immigrant areas, which had mostly blue collar workers: looking back, I suspect the same dynamic was at work. At least bingo had some social aspects - having been dragged to entirely too many by my grandmother I can't stand the game.

I used to always check the winning lottery numbers, but I never bought a ticket. Figuring the odds I didn't think it made a difference. And my numbers never came up anyway.

[tchunter]

20. its like the stock market for poor people n/t

[raccoon]

21. This study goes under the "No shit, sherlock" dept. nt

[Scout]

23. the lottery is a tax on people who can't do math...

not to say i do not have sympathy and understand why people buy lottery tickets.

[slackmaster]

24. In other news, Bob Dylan has started playing electric guitar!

[WriteDown]

27. More on this story

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080725/lf_nm_life/lottery_tickets_dc

[raebrek]

28. I have a problem with "made to feel subjectively"

So they made people feel subjectively poor or rich. They didn't say they talked to rich or poor people but that they talked to people that were "made to feel subjectively poor or rich." So who made them them feel that way? My guess is that it is those that were giving the survey.

Now imagine if you were poor and had such and such as an income and this and that for bills. How many lottery tickets do you think you would purchase.

Now imagine if you were rich and had such and such as an income and this and that for bills. How many lottery tickets do you think you would purchase.

I am not a big believer in surveys to begin with and when they throw in the phrase "made to feel subjectively" my belief lowers still more.

Raebrek!!!

on edit: to correct a type. That doesn't mean that there are not more typo's.

[ForPeace]

33. Statistically speaking ...

Your chances of winning the lottery, when rounded to a reasonable number of decimal places are ...
0.000000

[Hugin]

36. How does this extend to what's happening on Wall Street right now?

I thought those people were rich.

[kestrel91316]

37. I don't believe that PLAYING the lottery can make me rich. I believe

that WINNING the lottery can make me rich, lol.

I spend an average of $3-4 a month on lottery tickets, and it's part of my paltry entertainment budget. I find the few minutes spent fantasizing about winning a big jackpot well worth the tiny amount spent. I forget to buy tickets most the time, lol, because unless I HAVE a ticket in hand, I don't think about it.

Oh, and since I won $1000 about a month after the lottery began, years ago, I figure I still haven't spent all those winnings on more tickets......

[DiverDave]

43. I buy a power ball ticket, and it is a GREAT entertainment value.

Look, a ticket to a movie is 10-12 bucks, and you are entertained for a couple of hours.
When I buy a power ball ticket, I get 2 DAYS of day dreaming about what I would spend my money on.

Great value for my entertainment dollar.

[ozone_man]

44. Lotteries are regressive taxation.

It's a sign of desperation in our society. We're a society of haves and have nots. Winning the lottery is the one way for the poor to get out of their situation.

[toopers]

47. I forgot that poverty did not exist before the lottery . . .

what a joke of an article.

[WCGreen]

48. The lottery is just a state sanctioned numbers racket...

The only difference was the Mob gave better odds on winning and the proceeds weren't taxed.

[pokercat999]

49. They needed a study for this? My best friend moved from

Pittsburg to the Northern VA/DC suburbs. He gave up his numbers sideline business cause the upper middle class wasn't interested in numbers even though the mob pays better than the state. They made their football bets online just for fun. They are much more interested in fantasy football leagues.

[MindPilot]

51. I have conclusively proven that there is no correlation

between buying a lottery ticket and winning the lottery.

If I don't buy a lottery ticket, my odds of winning the lottery are effectively zero. If I do buy a lottery ticket, my odds of winning increase to...hmmm, let's see...effectively zero.

Like sub-prime mortgages, pyramid schemes, and call-now-for-my-free-wealth-without-work-tape scams, lotteries prey on the reality-challenged.

[DiverDave]

52. Of course I wont win, but

for those couple of days, I am buying that sailboat, giving a bunch to charity...so that makes me
"reality-challenged"?

I do it to day dream, which is entertaining to me.

[riverdeep]

54. So people are irrational? Who'd have guessed?

There was a really interesting test done a while back. They set up a roulette wheel and by random gave people $25 and said they could either keep the money or put it on the roulette wheel and if their color came up, they would get $50. With another group they gave them $50 right away and took away $25, and then said the same essential thing- you could get the $25 back by placing it on the roulette wheel or you could keep the money.

Just the mere act of having had the money for a moment made more people who initially got the $50 decide to keep the money more often than the other group, who seemed to feel they weren't losing anything. Of course, rationally, the odds are exactly the same. This offers startling challenges to the traditional view of modern economic theory of humans as rational creatures making rational selections from a wealth of free market choices.

Even more relevant here, are the studies (many at this point) on the state of contentment of lottery winners. Generally speaking, yes, for a while lottery winners are happier. And then they typically go back to where they were before, or worse.

In a classic 1978 study, two psychologists interviewed 22 major lottery winners and found that the joy of sudden wealth wore off in a few months. Further, lottery winners have a harder time than the rest of us enjoying life’s prosaic pleasures: watching television, shopping, talking with friends, and so forth. It’s as if the overwhelming experience of winning the lottery dulls the enjoyable flavors of ordinary life.

http://www.american.com/archive/2008/may-june-magazine-contents/can-money-buy-happiness
(caution: gets a little right-wingy, but presents good ideas on the topic at hand)

We adapt to our new situation fairly quickly. This also works the other way, for events that we perceive as negative, like becoming a paraplegic.

What will make you happy next year? You can predict most things fairly accurately. However, you are also influenced by your mistaken beliefs about what made you happy last year. And your mind over-predicts the impact that changes will bring. Lottery winners are less happy than we expect, and crippled accident victims less unhappy. When we think of these events, we focus on the change of becoming a lottery winner or accident victim, not on the ongoing reality of being one. Over time, we adapt to most changes. Millionaires face new problems. Disabled people develop new interests.

http://www.michaelnugent.com/2008/06/03/but-will-it-make-you-happy/

Once basic needs are met and you are reasonably healthy and out of acute distress, contentment is largely the result of genetic, cultural, and individual factors- not on the actual situation you find yourself in. The individual element can overcome the cultural and genetic factors to varyingly successful degrees in most cases, with focused, enlightened effort.

So for all practical purposes you already have won the lottery. How does it feel?

[Badrock]

58. No kidding

One summer I worked at a convenience store a few blocks away from both a very poor neighborhood and a white, upper-middle class neighborhood in Annapolis, MD. Every evening, on their way home from work, the well-off folks might buy a ticket or two if they were feeling lucky. The people on food stamps would somehow scrape up the cash to buy $20, $30, sometimes even $50 a day in lottery tickets. It made me feel filthy.

I have nothing aagainst gambling. If suckers like to lose money they don't have, nobody's going to stop them. But seeing it firsthand was heartbreaking.