$1.7 Trillion Dollar Parlay

 Introduction

   The total national student debt currently sits at roughly $1.7 trillion dollars and has been steadily rising over the last 20 years. Recently the rate at which people are gambling has also been increasing.


Gen Z is rolling the dice!

    A disproportionate amount of the people have started gambling in recent years compared to all other years in history. A study showed that the amount at which people are gambling, especially online, has absolutely skyrocketed. With roughly one in three American adults admitting to specifically sports betting, it is no surprise that it seems FanDuel and DraftKings are everywhere. Furthermore, this number rises to 47% when targeting millennials and jumps all the way to 58% when targeting Gen Z. 

    It seems that Gen Z and millennials are uniquely hooked on gambling when it comes to their phones. The large majority of these young gamblers are using popular sports betting apps to spend their time and money. These apps have enamored their users at the same time that we are seeing record high student loan numbers and these individuals seemed to have found the tools to unburden themselves of this debt. A man by the name of Kale Daniels told the Wall Street Journal that his foray into sports gambling has netted him $1600 which he used to clear a portion of his remaining student debt. Other users are not as lucky as a him such as Jamie Regan, a member of Gen Z who documented his gambling experience across multiple TikToks as he attempted to mimic the story of Daniels and clear his $50,000 of student loan debt. Regan was not nearly as lucky and, like most users wind up, losing various increments of money. A generation saddled with debt has resorted to literally gambling their money away for a chance to get out from under their potentially lifetime debt.


Conclusion

    Overall, it is unclear if there is a direct link between student loan debt and the rising wave of gambling. However, there is much anecdotal evidence from former students who feel like gambling and risking their money will somehow allow them to get out from underneath their debt.

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