Casinos on Tribal Lands Boost Economies – and Longevity – Center for Retirement Research

Native Americans die 12 to 13 years earlier on average than Whites. Extreme poverty on the reservation has been linked to alcoholism, drug addiction, and death from despair. Poor health played out during the COVID era, when Native Americans have the highest death rate in the country.

But they can survive longer if casinos are built on tribal lands, a new study finds.

What is communication? White Americans live longer, thanks to the higher incomes they use to pay for quality health care and food and safe housing. The same effect comes from successful gambling operations that generate revenue for state governments and inject more money into local economies as workers patrol stores, restaurants, farms and entertainment venues, according to researchers at UCLA and Johns Hopkins University.

When a casino opens on tribal lands, the longevity of Native American men living in or near the casino improves. If they compare their death rate in 20 years with that of men of other races who live in this area, the researchers found that the gap between them decreased by 7.4 percent.

In about two-thirds of these casinos, some of the profits are distributed directly to tribal members. In response to these transfers, the gap in longevity between Native American women and other women decreased by 9 percent. Importantly, when a casino makes these payments, everyone in the area benefits regardless of gender or race.

The benefits of working longer in the economy also extend to society at large. “The transfer of money is given only to registered American Indian citizens of that nation but the improvement of mortality reaches all people,” the researchers said.

They rely on Medicare data to identify Native Americans, including people over age 65 and young adults who are also on Medicare because they receive federal disability benefits. But the longevity benefits from the opening of casinos and money transfers were only available to the elderly.

The difficulty of obtaining small business loans, poverty, reliance on decisions at the federal level – many challenges face national governments and businesses trying to build a local economy.

The economic activity surrounding the operation of the casino shows the great impact it can have on improving the lives of the members of the tribes.

Reading this learn by Randall Akee and Emilia Simeonova, see “Economic Development, Unearned Income and Mortality: Evidence from Tribal Casinos?”

The research reported here was conducted in accordance with a grant from the US Social Security Administration (SSA) funded as part of the Retirement and Disability Research Consortium. The views and conclusions expressed are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views or policy of SSA or any agency of the Federal Government. Neither the United States government nor any of its agencies, nor any of its employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal responsibility or liability for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of the contents of this report. Reference herein to any particular commercial product, process or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not imply endorsement, recommendation or favor by the United States Government or any agency thereof.