State lotteries are a fixture of American society, and people in the United States spend about $100 billion on them every year, making it America’s favorite form of gambling. But while winning the lottery is a huge jackpot, the odds of actually getting there are far more remote than we might think. And there are troubling implications when we consider who buys tickets — especially low income Americans, who are more likely to participate in regressive lotteries.

Lottery officials tout their games as a way to boost state revenue, and while that’s certainly true, it’s important to put those numbers in context. When you look at the total amount of money that goes to state governments, it’s a drop in the bucket compared with other state spending.

But there’s also a societal message behind the lottery, which is that buying a ticket is a good thing because it raises money for public services like education and infrastructure. And that’s something that’s hard to ignore, particularly when states promote lotteries in places where they are trying to build economic development and improve the lives of their citizens. But is that really a good trade-off? Read the full article on NPR.

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