You’ve probably seen at least some of the trove of data on the socioeconomic decline of the United States. Here’s another: nearly 1 in 10 parents are gambling to try to pay for back-to-school supplies for their children this fall.
That’s according to a new online survey from Talker Research, which surveyed 2,000 parents of school-aged kids (5–17). The polling dates were July 20 to July 27.
Gambling games are, of course, designed for people to lose money over time.
The U.S. can often be a coldhearted, ruthless place, so it’s crucial not to stigmatize parents who use gambling to pay for these school supplies, especially given the merciless way gambling is advertised and promoted across the U.S., and the personal responsibility that can be viciously and unfairly placed on individuals.
A fiendish irony here is that many states legalized online gambling to fund public education, while huge numbers of parents are using those same state-sanctioned forms of gambling in an attempt to fund supplies for their family’s educational needs.
To be fair to these products, gambling to pay for back-to-school supplies is less common than some other forms of financial distress or predation, according to the survey:
– Taking on credit card debt: 20%
– Selling possessions: 16%
– Taking out a personal or payday loan: 15%
– Pawning possessions: 12%
Nonetheless, gambling is arguably the most hopeless form of hope for giving kids what they need to return to school.
U.S. adults lost $27 billion on state-sanctioned online sportsbooks/casinos in 2025, an all-time high. Alongside lottery products, these platforms are among the most accessible and heavily advertised gambling products.
The rise of legal sportsbooks, in particular, has been associated with food insecurity, which peaks in the fall due to the NFL season and football’s extreme cultural grip. The year’s NFL season arrives as about 4 million Americans have reportedly lost access to their government-funded food assistance over just a few months.
When factoring in brick-and-mortar casinos and many other types of gambling, including unlicensed or illicit forms, Americans lost more than $200 billion in 2025. This doesn’t include prediction markets or the losses incurred by so-called meme stock and cryptocurrency trading.
Tens of millions of Americans are ravaged by gambling losses or other forms of speculation each year, and the harm can extend to children through a process that is sometimes referred to as emotional contagion. A parent unsuccessfully using gambling to pay for back-to-school supplies may create what are called “affected others,” potentially causing generational harm related to gambling.
Again, many people who aren’t gambling in this way may harshly criticize the parents who desperately turn to a slot machine or parlay to pay for a new backpack for their child. Don’t do that; have empathy and solidarity for other people. We still live in a society, even though the U.S. atomized dystopia may make it seem otherwise. Problem gambling, which could be a factor in using gambling to pay for essentials, doesn’t mean a person is “stupid” – it means they could need help.
Policymakers brave enough to challenge the massive gambling sector have much work to do in the years ahead, but the data on harm (and more is in the pipeline) is on their side.
