Lottery 'does not benefit the poor'

The National Lottery comes with a "high price tag" for the poorest who spend more as a proportion of income on its games than wealthier counterparts but are least likely to benefit from its funding, according to a new report.

Manual workers and the unemployed are significantly more likely to play National Lottery scratch cards than those in the top managerial, professional careers and supervisory and clerical posts, research for the public theology think tank Theos has shown.

Polling of 1,019 adults in Britain conducted at the end of last year also showed skilled manual workers were the most likely to play draw based games - such as Lotto - with more than 67% in this category taking part once a month or more compared to 47% of managerial and professional workers.

The report said an analysis of where Lottery money for good causes was distributed found "insufficient funding" was being invested back into Britain's deprived communities in spite of high rates of play amongst less affluent players.

Researchers said Blaenau Gwent in South Wales was the poorest area in the UK, according to one set of deprivation measurements, but ranked in 133 place when it comes to the amount of lottery funding it receives.

Bridgend, also in South Wales, was ranked second using the same set of deprivation scores, but only in 224th place in terms of the amount of lottery funding it receives.

Lottery play and the 12% Lottery Duty is "regressive" the report concluded, and distribution of Lottery money fails to mitigate this with "markedly progressive" grant-making.

It added: "The public funding package for the 2012 Olympic Games which relies heavily on the National Lottery, will exacerbate this problem by reducing the amount of money available to projects in deprived areas."

Paul Woolley, director of Theos, said: "This research adds to a growing body of evidence which shows that Lottery players come from poorer backgrounds. They also spend significantly more, as a proportion of their household income, than more affluent players.

"National Lottery distributors have an obligation to ensure that all parts of the country have fair access to funds and that awards should be made with a view to reducing economic and social deprivation."