GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
PRINCETON, NJ -- One image of the legal gambling industry sometimes advanced by its critics is that it preys on ignorance or, at best, the false hopes of those who live at the lower reaches of the United States' economic spectrum. The results of the recently released Gallup Poll Social Audit Survey on Gambling in America, however, show that most Americans disagree with this premise and that, in fact, the highest rates of gambling in the U.S. are found among those in higher income and education brackets.
Roughly six in ten American adults disagree -- most of them strongly -- with the statement "The legal gambling industry is mostly based on taking advantage of poor people." This includes 37% who strongly disagree with the anti-gambling charge, and another 25% who somewhat disagree. On the other side, 20% strongly agree and 16% somewhat agree that gambling victimizes the poor.
Americans' self-reported participation in ten different types of gambling shows patterns that seem to justify these opinions. The types of gambling measured include betting on sports events, video poker, playing bingo for money, lotteries, and racetrack and casino gambling. Although the Gallup survey did not ask about frequency of gambling, lower-income Americans -- defined as those in households with incomes below $25,000 -- are actually less likely to report having gambled in one or more of these ways in the past year than are those earning upwards of $75,000 annually. Both groups report high rates of gambling, but the figure is 63% for those in the lowest income bracket, compared to 75% in high-income households.
There is even less differentiation in gambling behavior according to respondents' levels of education. Americans without college degrees are only slightly less likely to report having gambled in the past year than are those with college degrees, by a 67% to 72% margin.
Senior Citizen Stereotypes Not Validated
In fact, gambling behavior is more strongly related to age than to
either income or education levels, with seniors aged 65 and older
substantially less likely to say they have gambled in the past year
than are younger adults. This is consistent with senior attitudes,
as seniors are much more likely to disapprove of legal gambling and
to agree with a variety of anti-gambling arguments than are those
under 65 years of age.
Answers to the past-year gambling questions also undercut stereotypes of seniors' participation in certain kinds of gambling. Although busloads of seniors may roll into Atlantic City casinos daily, seniors are actually less likely than those under the age of 65 to have gambled at a casino in the past year, by a 21% to 33% margin. Similarly, those under 30 years old are more likely to have played bingo for money in the past 12 months (18%) than are those 65 and older (10%).
Problem Gambling Crosses Income Lines
The new Gallup Social Audit on Gambling measured problem gambling
subjectively by asking respondents "Do you sometimes gamble more
than you think you should?" Eleven percent of American adults say
they do. Although it begs the question of whether those in
different household income brackets have different ideas of how
much gambling is appropriate, the percentage answering "yes" to
this question does not differ significantly by household income
level.
Upper-Income Americans Dwarf Poor Americans in
Wagers
Beyond the rate of gambling, the Gallup Poll Social Audit on
Gambling in America provides a measure of the amount of money
wagered in the past year. Although the U.S. population is composed
of many more people making under $25,000 than $75,000 and over, it
appears that the high-income group represents a greater source of
revenue to the gambling industry than does the low-income group.
Gallup asked Americans how much money they usually spend each month
on lottery tickets, and separately how much they wagered "besides
lottery tickets" in the past year. Setting aside differences in
what people with different household income levels can "afford,"
upper-income Americans report spending roughly three times as much
on lotteries each month as do those of low incomes.
The amounts spent on non-lottery gambling show an even stronger pattern in the same direction, with upper-income Americans spending nearly ten times as much annually as do those in the $25,000 income bracket. Although the number of survey respondents in these income groupings does not justify great reliance on these ratios, the pattern of results does seem to justify Americans' rejection of the idea that gambling is "mostly based on taking advantage of poor people."
The results below are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected sample of 1,523 adults, 18 years and older, living in the United States. (The same survey also includes interviews with 501 teens aged 13-17 that are not reported here.) Interviews were conducted between April 30 and May 23, 1999, in both English and Spanish. For results based on samples of these sizes, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus 3 percentage points for adults and plus or minus 5 percentage points for teens. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.
Now we'd like to ask you a different set of questions. For each one, please say whether you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree? First, the legal gambling industry is mostly based on taking advantage of poor people.
| Strongly agree | Somewhat agree | Somewhat disagree | Strongly disagree | No opinion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20% | 16% | 25% | 37% | 2% |
Please tell me whether or not you have done any of the following things in the past 12 months. First, how about…(read A-J)?
| % "yes, have done" this | |||||
| Total | Under $25K | $25-44.9K | $45-74.9K | $75K+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bought a state lottery ticket | 57% | 53% | 61% | 65% | 56% |
| Gambled at a casino | 31 | 23 | 34 | 37 | 37 |
| Participated in an office pool | 25 | 13 | 27 | 35 | 36 |
| Played a video poker machine | 20 | 17 | 20 | 23 | 22 |
| Bet on a professional sports event | 13 | 9 | 15 | 15 | 16 |
| Played bingo for money | 11 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 8 |
| Participated in riverboat gambling | 10 | 6 | 12 | 12 | 13 |
| Bet on a horse race or dog race | 9 | 5 | 12 | 9 | 14 |
| Bet on a college sports event | 9 | 5 | 11 | 11 | 12 |
| Gambled for money on the Internet | * | * | * | * | 1 |
Summary Table
Percentage who have/have not gambled in one or more of the ten ways mentioned in the previous question
| Yes | No | |
|---|---|---|
| Total | 66% | 34% |
| Gender | ||
| Men | 77 | 23 |
| Women | 62 | 38 |
| Age | ||
| 18-29 years | 73 | 27 |
| 30-49 years | 75 | 25 |
| 50-64 years | 71 | 29 |
| 65+ years | 50 | 50 |
| Education | ||
| H.S. incomplete | 61 | 39 |
| H.S. graduate | 71 | 29 |
| College incomplete | 71 | 29 |
| College graduate | 72 | 28 |
| Income | ||
| Under $25K | 63 | 37 |
| $25-44.9K | 75 | 25 |
| $45-74.9K | 75 | 25 |
| $75K+ | 75 | 25 |
