The Poor Have A Gambling Problem

From "People in poor neighborhoods are twice as likely to have gambling problems" on ScienceBlog:

The poorer the neighborhood, the higher the risk for problem gambling, according to a study from the University at Buffalo Research Institute on Addictions (RIA).

Based on representative telephone interviews with nearly 5,000 people, ages 14 to 90, in the United States, the study found that problem gambling was twice as likely in neighborhoods with the highest levels of concentrated poverty compared to neighborhoods with the lowest poverty levels.***“We found that neighborhood disadvantage had a substantial effect on problem gambling, even after controlling for a person’s socioeconomic status, age, gender or race,” says Grace M. Barnes, PhD, RIA senior research scientist and first author. “We also controlled for the convenience of gambling opportunities in these neighborhoods, and our findings were unchanged.”