How much do you love your partner? Could you put a price on it? Most people would say no. Most people would also be lying.
A new survey of 4,000 Americans conducted by Casino Guru ahead of National Lottery Day on July 17 found that one in five people currently in relationships would consider leaving their partner for a lottery win, depending on the prize.
One in eight Kentuckians said they’d take any jackpot at all to walk out the door, making it the most romantically mercenary state in the country. Florida wasn’t far behind, with 43% saying they’d consider ditching their partner depending on the amount—and 42% of those Floridians said they’d do it for less than $10 million. Wisconsin, for what it’s worth, had the most faithful respondents, with 79% saying no jackpot would make them leave their partner.
Money and relationships have always had a complicated relationship, and the internet has no shortage of proof. Last year, a Reddit post from a man who won a modest lottery prize went viral after his wife announced she was quitting her job—something they’d never once discussed. “I would’ve preferred not winning if I knew this was going to happen,” he wrote. Over 17,000 people upvoted it, and the comments filled up fast with people who recognized the story. High-conflict divorce mediator Dorcy Pruter told Newsweek it was a familiar one. “Money is never just money,” she said. “It’s identity, security, and story. A windfall doesn’t create unity; it reveals whether it was there to begin with.”
The Casino Guru data makes more sense through that lens. People aren’t necessarily planning to cash out their relationships for a Powerball ticket. But the survey does measure something real: how many people, if given a hypothetical escape hatch and enough money attached to it, would actually take it. The answer, in Kentucky and Florida at least, is a lot of them.
The study also found that 47% of Americans would give up social media for a lottery win regardless of prize amount, and 53% would permanently give up Christmas. Which says something, though it’s not entirely clear what, about the relative value Americans place on their partners versus their holiday traditions versus their Instagram accounts. The partners, at least, have a fighting chance.
The post How Much Money Would It Take to Leave Your Partner? Americans Have an Answer. appeared first on VICE.
