The lottery is a fixture in American society, with people spending upward of $100 billion on tickets in 2021. States promote lottery games as ways to raise revenue, and they do indeed help. But just how meaningful that revenue is in broader state budgets, and whether it’s worth the trade-offs to people losing their money, are questions that merit scrutiny.
There are three big disadvantages to playing the Lottery:
1. Unlike other forms of gambling, the Lottery’s odds are extremely low.
2. It has a regressive impact, meaning that people with lower incomes spend a larger share of their income on the Lottery than those with higher incomes.
3. The prize amounts are disproportionately large, giving the appearance of instant riches to people with very limited financial means.
It’s not surprising that people like to gamble, and many of them are tempted by the Lottery’s promise of fast riches, with its big billboards on highways touting the Mega Millions and Powerball jackpots. But there are also deeper reasons to be suspicious of the Lottery. It’s not just about the gambling itself — it’s about how the Lottery is marketed, and what social costs are associated with it. The Lottery is just another way for government to tinker with the lives of ordinary citizens, making some feel better and some worse. For most, it’s not a good thing. For some, it’s even a terrible thing.