Even as unemployment remained high and the economy dragged, players in many states responded. Of the 43 states with lotteries, 26 saw revenue grow in traditional games in the last fiscal year, with total sales up 3 percent to $56 billion, according to La Fleur’s. Ticket sales in at least 17 of those states set records, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, and several states are on track to hit all-time highs this year.
...
Kate Sweeny, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of
California, Riverside, who studies how people respond to difficult life events, said after a few years in a down economy, some people feel no control over their financial futures -- so they might turn their hope to the lottery.
“What you are buying is maybe a chance to have financial relief at a time where finances aren’t at their best for a lot of people,” Sweeny said.