Is the Lottery a Fair Game?

Lottery is a term that’s often used in a casual way to describe something that appears to depend on chance: “Life’s a lottery,” for example. A more serious use of the word is in a government-sanctioned competition, like the state’s Powerball, in which numbered tickets are sold and prizes are awarded by random drawing.

The word lottery is derived from the Latin Loteria, meaning “a drawing of lots.” The practice of using a lottery to distribute prizes and property has been in existence for centuries, though it didn’t come to the United States until the 19th century. Today, there are state-sponsored lotteries in 48 states and the District of Columbia.

In the US, people spend billions of dollars every year on lottery tickets. This money supports public services like schools and roads. But it’s worth questioning whether this is the best way to spend that money.

A large portion of lottery playing comes from the bottom quintile of incomes, a group that’s disproportionately less educated, nonwhite, and male. These people don’t have much discretionary spending left, so they end up buying a lot of lottery tickets. It’s regressive.

The biggest winners are in the top 10 percent of earners, who buy most of the tickets. This isn’t a sign that the game is fair. It’s a sign that the system is designed to benefit a few, even if it means that other players are losing their hard-earned dollars. That’s not the kind of thing we should be supporting with our taxes.