Hidden Costs of Gambling Beyond Bets
Gambling’s hidden costs extend far beyond bets, impacting individuals at personal, interpersonal and community/societal levels in both financial and non-financial ways. These effects may take the form of general costs, problem gambling costs and long-term implications.
These effects may be lasting and have the power to alter an individual’s life course or even pass from generation to generation. This presents a different viewpoint than traditional ones that legalized betting is beneficial to society.
Addiction
Gambling can be a fun and social activity for some people, while it can also become a harmful addiction that creates financial issues and strains relationships. Addiction often develops due to high amounts of stress or as a way to cope with life events that have caused emotional trauma; if you think you might have a gambling issue and need advice for it free from StepChange.
People struggling with gambling addiction are unable to control their losses, often landing themselves in an endless cycle: losing money, feeling terrible about it and then trying to recoup those losses by gambling more. This can quickly lead to massive debt which may eventually cause bankruptcy and even homelessness.
Studies assessing gambling impacts have been undertaken at multiple levels – individual, interpersonal and community/societal. Numerous approaches have been employed to measure its adverse impacts such as quality of life weights (DWs) and cost-benefit analyses.
Taxes
Sports gambling in the US has caused widespread public alarm over its impact on public financial wellbeing, while also leading to state gambling regulations and limited federal oversight. While gambling revenues bring jobs and tax revenue for communities, their negative side-effects also include reduced social capital, greater poverty and greater need for financial assistance.
These impacts can be divided into three classes: costs and benefits. They manifest on three different levels – personal, interpersonal, and community/societal. Personal level impacts come directly from gamblers themselves while interpersonal and community/societal impacts may impact those not directly gambling.
Many states have established taxes that tax sports betting operators’s gross receipts (GGR). Unfortunately, this figure may not accurately reflect the total amount staked. GGR may include promotional bets that do not involve real money changing hands; for instance if someone loses a free bet without winning it back it should technically appear in GGR figures reported to the IRS despite this commercial speech restriction.
Legality
Many states are struggling to weigh the pros and cons of legal gambling. Legalized gambling has been linked with increased crime rates, white-collar crime, problem and pathological gambling; concerns over youth addiction to gambling; some critics argue it should only be legalized when economic benefits accrue while others point out its lack of consumer protections and limited advertising restrictions as oppositions to its introduction.
Quantifying the costs associated with gambling may be straightforward, yet assessing its social impact more complex. This is due to many of its nonmonetary costs being intangible – they cannot easily be measured. These personal and interpersonal costs remain invisible for those who do not gamble but become visible at an aggregate community level; such costs include general costs related to problem gambling, long-term costs as well as general regulation costs. Regulatory bodies must allocate sufficient resources towards monitoring gambling operations as well as funding related research.
Regulation
Gambling’s effects are complex and far-reaching. While gambling may cause financial ruin and psychological trauma for individuals, as well as public services costs being added on top. Problem gambling also impacts loved ones significantly – one person’s problem gambling could impact 5-10 other individuals negatively, making education about its risks crucial and encouraging responsible behaviour among gamblers.
Prior to now, research on gambling impacts primarily focused on its economic consequences by using monetary values to evaluate a gambler’s quality of life. But this approach neglects both positive aspects of gambling as well as key contributors that add up to its effect. To gain a full picture of gambling’s effects, an approach using health-related quality of life weights or disability weights (DW) must also be included into analysis.
