Social Security Payouts Could Be Fueling Gambling in West Virginia

A West Virginia University doctoral student claims to have found a sinister trend in the state’s Social Security system, arguing that the money meant to support vulnerable residents may be associated with driving gambling behavior. Matt Mullis argues that there is a pattern in West Virginia : when social payments go out , so does gambling go up . According to Mullis, 16,000 people placed as many as 43 million bets , a rather huge chunk of the total, with the doctoral candidate concerned over the promotion of the activity by popular people and celebrities , who may be fueling…