What are the social and economic effects of gambling addiction?

In 1998 the National Gambling Impact Study Commission funded a study to determine the overall cost to society posed by problem and pathological gamblers in the United States.

The results showed that approximately $5 billion was lost annually, with an additional $40 billion in lifetime costs for productivity reductions, social services and creditor losses. Studies have concluded that two out of three pathological gamblers commit illegal acts in order to pay gambling-related debts. This places a hardship on our legal systems, prison systems and public assistance programs.

Gambling

The following consequences of problem gambling all result in economic costs for states, communities and individuals:

Job loss, unemployment
Debt, bankruptcy
Embezzlement, fraud, check forgery
Eviction, forced home sales
Crime, arrest, incarceration
Poor physical and mental health, suicide
Alcohol and drug abuse

The families of problem gamblers also suffer greatly from physical and psychological abuse; harassment and threats from bill collectors and creditors; increased stress stemming from neglect and divorce; and the extra financial burden placed on them to repay debts.

Sadly, children are negatively affected by gambling addiction in several ways.

Physical and emotional abandonment is a very real phenomenon.
â€œCasino kidsâ€ are left in cars or on the periphery of the gambling action while their parents gamble, or may spend hours with babysitters, thus missing the nurturing they need.
Children of pathological gamblers are typically abused verbally, mentally and physically by the gambler, and often even more so by the co-dependent spouse.
Finally, these children are much more likely to develop gambling addiction than their peers.

Excerpted from research: Effects of Problem Gambling. California Council on Problem Gambling (Anaheim, CA); 2006.