[1] In 18th and 19th century Great Britain, the practice of temperance among Methodists, as well as their rejection of gambling, allowed them to eliminate secondary poverty and accumulate capital.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics found that "the average American consumer dedicates 1 percent of all their spending to alcohol".
[5] More recently, the sociologist Gerda Reith stated that the lottery exploited working classes, which see it as one of the sole avenues for liberation from oppression.
[5] Reith stated that governments use the lottery as a means to increase their revenue and called it an "extra form of taxation".
[6] According to Hahmann and Matheson (n.d.), two life events can lead to homelessness: significant job loss and problem gambling.