Truly, the nation is verily in the grip of a massive gambling epidemic:
The average British family spends more on gambling than fresh
vegetables, fresh fruit or holidays abroad, according to an official
analysis of family spending.
We can see the Four Horsemen saddling up, presaging the destruction of the very civilization.
But we do seem to be quite rich really:
Out of £443 a week, transport is the most expensive item at £62 a week,
but recreation and leisure is the second biggest expense for British
families at £58 a week. This includes TVs, computers, newspapers,
books, leisure activities and holidays. On average, £12.50 a week is
spent on package holidays abroad, compared with £1 a week on holidays
in the UK.
Our second largest class of expenditure is enjoying ourselves? Sure, we’d all like that to be larger I’m certain, but it’s hardly a picture of helots tied to the cruel wheel of working life’s demands now is it?
And, err, out of that £443, just how much is it that we spend on gambling?
The Family Spending report, which is based on interviews with almost
7,000 families, reveals that £3.60 a week is spent on gambling,
compared with £3.40 on fresh vegetables, £2.80 on fresh fruit and £3.20
on holidays abroad.
£3.60? That’s, err, 0.81%. Now whether you look at gambling as the purchase of a mild thrill (one view) or a long shot attempt at getting a life changing amount of money (another, and there are plenty of highly respectable investment counsellors who would say that 1% of your portfolio on such long shots is an entirely valid approach) no, that sort of level of spending is not a threat to civilization.
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