The History of the Lottery
The lottery is a form of gambling in which players purchase tickets for a drawing with a prize ranging from cash to goods and services. The odds of winning vary wildly depending on the size of the ticket price, how many numbers to match, and how much money has been paid in total by other participants. Lotteries have become popular because they can provide substantial cash prizes with relatively small initial investments. However, they have been criticized for their association with addiction and other social problems, as well as for having a regressive impact on poorer people.
While the lottery has a long history, its modern version was first introduced in 1964. At that time, most states were averse to raising taxes and were searching for ways to boost state coffers. In addition, the lottery posed few ethical concerns compared to other forms of gambling. Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton both supported it, believing that the “generality of mankind would rather have a small chance of getting a great deal than a great chance of getting a little.”
As the game gained popularity in the United States, the number of state-run lotteries increased rapidly. Originally, the games were little more than traditional raffles. People would buy tickets, and a drawing was held at some future date, typically weeks or months away. Then in the 1970s, innovations were made that dramatically changed the way lotteries worked. Instead of a single drawing, multiple drawings were often conducted in the same period. Prize amounts also rose.
Today, 44 states run their own lotteries. The six states that don’t are Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Mississippi, Utah, and Nevada. The reasons for not running a lottery vary from religion to fiscal concerns. For example, Utah’s state government already gets its fair share of gambling revenue and doesn’t need to compete with the Las Vegas casinos.
Besides the obvious difference in prize amounts, lottery games differ in how they are presented to the public. In most cases, advertising focuses on persuading target groups to spend money on the game. This raises important questions about the role of governments in promoting gambling and the ethics of doing so.
In the nineteen-seventies and eighties, as Cohen points out, the American obsession with lotteries coincided with a profound decline in financial security for most working Americans. The gap between rich and poor widened, pensions and job security eroded, health care costs skyrocketed, and the promise that hard work could make one better off than one’s parents ceased to be true for many families.
While the wealthy do play the lottery (and one of the biggest jackpots was won by three asset managers from Greenwich, Connecticut), they spend a fraction of their income on tickets than do poorer people. In fact, a study by the consumer financial company Bankrate found that households earning over fifty thousand dollars per year spent one percent of their income on lottery tickets; those making less than thirty thousand dollars spent thirteen percent.
