Gambling is a type of risk-taking activity where people stake something of value, such as money or goods, on an uncertain event with an unknown outcome. This could be betting on a sports team to win or buying a scratchcard with the hope of winning big. Whether you play in a casino, a horse race or the lottery, gambling can be an enjoyable pastime. However, it can also be a dangerous habit that leads to financial disaster.
Traditionally, researchers have focused on measuring the economic benefits and costs of gambling. This approach is very limited, as it fails to take into account social impacts and misses the opportunity to examine the full picture of gambling’s impact on society. Social impacts are often ignored because they’re non-monetary in nature, making them difficult to measure. Furthermore, as Walker and Williams et al. [32] explain, social cost must aggregate societal real wealth, or be something that harms someone in society and benefits no one else.
Social impacts from gambling can be categorized into three classes: financial, labor and health/well-being. The former includes changes in financial situations such as increased savings, better budgeting and debt reduction. The latter can include job loss, decreased productivity and absenteeism, as well as increased risk of health problems. Finally, the last class focuses on the societal and community level and involves external costs/benefits that affect those outside of gamblers, such as family members, employers and neighbors. These impacts can be categorized as either direct or indirect.