Lottery is a form of gambling wherein people pay for tickets and win prizes if their numbers match those that are randomly drawn by a machine. Prizes can range from a small cash amount to apartments in a subsidized housing development to kindergarten placement at a well-known public school. Historically, states have subsidized state lotteries by selling a small percentage of the total ticket sales to private companies. These private companies in turn sell the rest of the tickets to a wide and diverse audience, including the wealthy, the middle class, and the poor.
Many of the earliest lotteries raised funds for municipal projects such as paving streets and building wharves, or a mixture of these and other civic goods. In the 18th century, American lotteries aided the settlement of the colonies and also helped fund public institutions such as Harvard and Yale. Benjamin Franklin even sponsored a lottery to raise money for cannons to defend Philadelphia from the British.
The popularity of lotteries in Europe is often attributed to their introduction by Francis I of France during his campaign in Italy, although they may have existed before that time. The general appeal of lotteries has remained consistent throughout the centuries, and they continue to enjoy widespread public support today.
In the United States, lotteries are a popular source of revenue for state governments and local jurisdictions, but their contribution to society has been disputed. In addition, some lotteries have been accused of discriminating against certain socio-economic groups. For example, studies show that lottery play declines with income, and that the young and the old play less than their counterparts in the middle age group.
