SOCIOECONOMIC-STATUS AND PLAYING THE LOTTERIES

It has long been known that persons of lower socioeconomic status tend to spend a higher proportion of their income on gambling. This paper examines this issue in greater detail, using a sample of 3,200 Oregon residents in 1990. This research disaggregates the socioeconomic effects of education, occupation and income as they relate to variations in expenditures on the Oregon lottery, taking into account differences between instant lottery and lotto games. Although the poor commit a greater proportion of their household expenditures to the lottery, it is the middle class that contributes the greatest amounts to the state coffers through lottery play. Education is negatively related to lottery play and generally is the best predictor of the amount of play.