New survey reveals surprising impacts of lottery wins on relationships

Somewhere in a trendy Thai restaurant or a corner booth at Panda Express, somewhere in America on Friday, somebody is going to allow something akin to this drivel to spill from their lips:

Are you kidding me? When I met you, I won the lottery.

But according to a new survey commissioned by online lottery courier Jackpocket, that cliche machine might just have other ideas if they actually did win.

There was heartening news from Jackpocket's query of 1,000 males and 1,000 females aged 18-to-65 who had played the lottery within the last six months: 43.75% of them indicated that they would share the news of their win with their partner before anyone else. That half wouldn't is perhaps troubling, but then the data got darker.

Findings from the Jackpocket Valentine's Day survey:

• 8.1% of men would keep their win a secret
• 7.9% of women would do the same
• 3.7% of men would “celebrate” their lottery bounty by ending their relationship
• 2.2% of women would also have a break-up for dessert

Hopefully, that wicked 5.9% of the survey group would at least pick up the check for the Valentine's Day dinner farewell.

Does a lottery windfall lead to relationship failure?

The Jackpocket survey of American lottery players produced similar results as a 2023 study by the Swedish National Bureau of Economic Research, which examined the relationship impact of winning a jackpot of at least a million Krona.

The study found that female winners were twice as likely to divorce in the two years after winning. Researchers theorized that newfound wealth enabled women in marriages already failing to leave because their divorce rate fell significantly over time.

Men, however, were 40% less likely to divorce over the next decade after winning the lottery. For unmarried males, the probability of achieving wedded bliss increased by an estimated 30% in the five years after a lottery bounty. The paper, perhaps cruelly, at least scientifically, suggested that “wealth increases attractiveness as prospective and current partners.”

For them, apparently, winning the lottery is like winning the lottery of romance.