A lottery is a game of chance wherein winners are selected through a random drawing. Government-administered lotteries raise money for a wide range of public purposes. In the United States, a large percentage of lottery players are from lower income levels. Many critics view these games as a disguised tax on those least able to afford it.
There is no doubt that lottery plays appeal to some people because of a basic human desire to gamble. But it is important to recognize that there are other forces at work, both economic and social, that make lottery playing a problematic activity. For one, there is the fact that lotteries disproportionately attract low-income and nonwhite people to their play. The resulting budget drain can also be felt by other public services such as subsidized housing, school placements and jury selection.
Historically, lotteries have been popular means of raising money for public and private projects, including the construction of the British Museum, bridges, a battery of guns to defend Philadelphia during the American Revolution and even Thomas Jefferson’s attempt to pay off his debts by holding a lottery in 1826. Once the initial enthusiasm for a lottery has worn off, however, revenues often decline. As a result, promoters have had to continually introduce new games in order to maintain and increase revenue. Often, these innovations have taken the form of “instant games,” such as scratch-off tickets that offer smaller prizes for winning combinations of numbers.
