To think that it's deeply immoral for Lottery to sell a £10 scratchcard

[Nuphonewhodis]

I've been popping in to my new local corner shop the past few days, and many of those times i've seen the same few people buying the £10 scratchcard. Now I know that appearances can be deceiving and all but these people clearly seem like they're struggling money wise - tatty and holed clothing, very thin coats etc.

Loads of people spend money on the Lottery who can easily afford it, but surely there are lots of people in real financial straits who see playing the Lottery as their chance out of this. A £2 ticket is fair enough, but £10 is loads of money! It seems exploitative and in some ways like it's manipulating already vulnerable people to part with significant amounts of money, especially if they buy it weekly which some of the people in my local seem to.

AIBU?

How is it exploitive? We can choose whether to buy one or not. Personally I wouldn’t touch one.

Are shops selling alcohol immoral too?

Noones forcing them to buy them. Theyre not being exploited they're chosing to buy them so YABU

Are they being forced to buy them? People have a right to spend their own money on whatever they want to.

Because there are some people who are in real financial difficulty and are lured in by the Lottery, and spend lots of money that they can't afford on this. As I said, £2 is fair, but £10 is an extreme amount.

I suppose you could say the same about selling alcohol to alcoholics which is a different argument, but I do also think that can be immoral

There are £2 scratch cards available. They could Choose to buy one of those.

In other news shops sell alcohol and cigarettes, both addictive and many betting shops are on high streets and you can also bet online again also addictive.

You can’t baby everyone becuase of a few

No real difference to buying 5 £2 cards though, surely? I guess my point is that if they're going to spend a tenner on scratchcards they'll do so regardless of how many they get for said tenner.

There is a lot of research both here and in the USA which shows lottteries are an exploitative tax on the poor and those with low educational attainment are far more likely to play regularly. .

An interesting American article erlc.com/resource-library/articles/state-lotteries-are-an-exploitative-tax-on-the-poor From the 1800s to the mid 20th century, government-run lotteries in America were not only recognized as immoral but were banned in every state. That changed in 1964 when New Hampshire—a state without an income tax—reinstituted a state lottery.

A Uk article : makewealthhistory.org/2009/08/07/does-the-national-lottery-exploit-the-poor/ Around 57% of adults actively play, but those with lower incomes are more likely to play regularly. A Comres survey found that 36% of households earning £15-20,000 a year bought scratchcards once a month or more, compared to a 14% average. Those with A Levels or lower were also more likely to play than those with higher qualifications, and poorer households spend a larger percentage of their income on the lottery than richer households.

So they just by 5 £2 ones instead.

Seriously, how on earth are you coming to the conclusion that these people are in financial difficulty just from popping into the corner shop occasionally?!

And just by chance, every time you are in there is a poor looking person who just happens to be buying a £10 card?

No it's not deeply immoral or exploitative.

The £2 cards that you think are 'fair enough', are far more popular with people who don't have a lot of money.

In fact, most scratch card buyers know they've more chance of winning something if they 5 cards at £2 each, rather than spending it all on one card.

*buy 5 cards

Oh come on, you can often tell who's in financial difficulty from the way they are dressed.

I agree with you, OP. I think gambling has been made far too easy now and people need to be protected.

You could say that junk food explores the poor and those of a lower price intelligence. People are still not forced to buy crisps and chocolate. We live in a country where we have a choice about how to spend our money.

@nicknacky, I didn't say I see them every time I go in, just some of those times.

People buy the £10 rather than the £2 one though because of the higher chance of winning, which is advertised by the Lottery. But even with this higher chance, the likelihood of winning are still miniscule

I really don't like the lottery or what it stands for, but it's obviously very popular.

However, every time I've seen scratchcards in shops, they all seem to offer very large prizes - tens if not hundreds of thousands of pounds.

If people are in such dire financial straits that they see scratchcards as their only potential way out of it, surely one of the £2 cards could almost certainly not potentially win them thousands of pounds.

If they're tempted by the tenner cards which, presumably offer prizes in the millions, then they must be motivated by greed, not need.

There is a lot of research both here and in the USA which shows lottteries are an exploitative tax on the poor and those with low educational attainment are far more likely to play regularly.

I can imagine. At school (I went to a private school) we were tasked with working out the chances of winning the lottery as part of learning about calculating probability in Maths lessons. I also think it’s exploitative, not coincidentally.

People buy the £10 rather than the £2 one though because of the higher chance of winning, which is advertised by the Lottery. But even with this higher chance, the likelihood of winning are still miniscule

I didn't know that, but surely they'd have much more chance of a reasonable win on the horses or something than with scratchcards? I don't do gambling myself, but if I did, I certainly wouldn't choose the lottery if I wanted to maximise my chances of winning - much better to have a chance to win a big prize than to have virtually no chance of winning a huge one.

Well its gambling so I would view it as the same as alcohol... some people are addicted to it and it's a serious addiction..
I'm not sure what the shop staff can do though.. or the national lottery as many people enjoy gambling safely just as they enjoy a drink safely... so I'm not sure an outright ban would be moral either.

They do have a limits you can set for yourself... and I think theres some sort of line a family member can ring to say someone has a gambling problem and the gambling companies will not sell to them above a certain amount? I haven't looked in to it in detail
But these things rely on people admitting they have a problem..

I dont think its moral to assume someone has a problem just from a judgement made about the way they look? Or a snap judgement about how much money they have.... that's a slippery slope really... I mean are you going to stop people you think look poor from buying other goods you think are a waste of money? Stop overweight people buying chocolate??.... it's not something I would support.

Is it more moral to dictate how poor and/or stupid are allowed to spend their money?

I dont think you have any right to dictate what people spend their money on. Mind your own fucking business.

I think that as a society we should be looking out for those who may be vulnerable at the hands of coercive business practises. I have no interest in 'dictating' how poor people spend their money, my gripe is with the lottery charging £10 for something which has absolute minsicule odds, and which disproportionately attracts those who cannot comfortably afford it, leaving them even worse off.

Don't buy one. I wouldn't

What's immoral is continuing to sell scratchcards when all the prizes have been claimed ....

Regardless of how exploitative or not of the punter it may be, am I the only one who's uncomfortable that, at the other end, the best way that a big group of Canadian teachers could think of to invest in for their pension fund was a lottery in the UK?

Exploitative or not, it's hardly the most ethical way of funding the retirements of a respectable profession - especially as a lot of the players will doubtless be desperate parents on a very low income whose children could easily go without because of the money going on scratchcards or lottery tickets.