While the lottery might seem like a modern invention spawned by Instagram and the Kardashians, its roots reach back to the early seventeenth century. In that era, lotteries were commonplace in the Low Countries. They were used to build town fortifications and even to provide charity to the poor. Tickets cost ten shillings, which was a lot of money back then. But more importantly, they served as get-out-of-jail cards. As a result, anyone who played a lottery could legally avoid arrest for all crimes except murder and treason.
Lottery advocates argued that the revenue would fill state coffers without raising taxes, which was a powerful selling point to politicians who were wary of implementing new taxation measures and didn’t want to be punished at the polls. But that dream turned out to be a bust; in the first year of the New Jersey lottery, for example, proceeds only covered two per cent of education funding.
The reality is that lottery sales are responsive to economic fluctuation. They rise when incomes fall, unemployment rises, and poverty rates increase. As a result, many of the most popular lottery games are sold in neighborhoods that are disproportionately Black and Latino. Consequently, critics argue that state-sponsored lotteries are regressive and transfer wealth from low-income communities to those with more financial resources.
The NJ Lottery App offers fun, convenience, and information to players on the go. It is easy to download – just enter your mobile number or text APP to 66835*. Easily create and save ePlayslips, find out if you’ve won, and enter second chance drawings.