Lotteries: a tax on the poor?
Opinions vary whether lotteries are a tax on the poor. However, this is the contention of Jesse Louis Jackson:
“[A 1999 survey found] that people who live in the lowest-income areas spend more than five times as much of their money on lottery tickets as do people who live in the highest-income areas. And for every $10,000 of income earned in low-income areas, $108 was spent on taxes and $111 on the lottery. This is why the lottery is often called “a tax on the poor.” [1]
Although lotteries are voluntary, they are nonetheless voluntary taxes paid by consumers. Another study shows that it was estimated in one state that the poorest 20% of the population would account for 16% of lottery spending and thereby account for a 1.37% increase in the state’s tax burden whereas the richest 1% would see their tax burden increase concurrently by only 0.02%. [2]
[1] It’s about the money! p. 220; July 2, 1999 cited by Jesse Louis Jackson, http://www.issues2000.org/IL/Jesse_Louis_Jackson_Budget_+_Economy.htm
[2] "An Arkansas lottery A bad bet for Education and Families?", Paycheck $ and politics; State Government & your Family’s Budget, Issue XV, December 2002, p.6 found at http://www.aradvocates.org/_images/pdfs/taxbrief15.pdf