Lotto stores in poorest half of NZ account for 70% of sales

Nearly 70% of Lotto shop sales are made in the poorest half of the community. The data was provided for an RNZ investigation into the state-owned gambling company, as one expert warned Lotto was impacting poor communities “by stealth” and that it had hid in the shadows as the spotlight went on pokies. Even Lotto accepts it has too many stores in low income areas and is closing some down. Selah Hart of Hāpai te Hauora, a kaupapa Māori public health agency, said some people in poor communities saw Lotto as a way out of poverty.