negative effects of casinos on communities

Unfortunately, such measurement is tricky. Since the 1990s researchers have been trying to put a monetary value on these social costs of problem gambling. The result has been a fairly stable prevalence of problem gambling across place and time. Research has suggested that when casinos expand in an area, there is a short-term increase in the problem gambling rate, but that the rate levels off over time. Interestingly, the spread of casinos across the country may not have caused a significant increase in the prevalence of problem gambling. These people develop a variety of problems, including reduced employment productivity financial problems, bad debts and bankruptcies committing crimes to get money for gambling and lying to friends and family. On the cost side of the equation, researchers agree that the majority of costs are attributable to problem gamblers, who make up around 1% of the population. If new casinos keep hundreds of millions of casino revenue in the state, that means additional tax revenue for the state.

In Massachusetts, one of the motivations for casino legalization is that many Bay State residents gamble at casinos in Connecticut and Rhode Island. Although in most states legalized gambling provides a very small proportion of state tax receipts (usually far less than 5%), casino taxes do make it easier for politicians to avoid spending cuts or other tax increases.

Perhaps the most important political benefit of casinos is tax revenues. There is also published evidence that casinos have a positive impact on state-level economic growth, though that evidence has not been consistent over time. Perhaps the most comprehensive study on employment and wages was done at the US county level.Ĭontrolling for a variety of factors, the results showed that counties with casinos have higher employment (by around 8%) than those without wages were slightly higher in casino counties.

When it comes to the economic benefits of casinos, there have been several studies on economic growth, employment, and wages.

Negative effects of casinos on communities