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. Two other social security variables,
comprising claimant numbers for other social
security payments (eg rent assistance) and for
pension payments, have a positive impact on
gaming expenditure.
In a typical Victorian region, each additional
claimant of Centrelink payments has the
following effect on gaming expenditure over a
three month period:
pensioners: + $0.07;
unemployment benefit recipients: -$0.10;
family payment recipients: -$0.22; and
other social security payments: +$0.34.
This means, for example, that total gaming
expenditure per quarter in a local government
region increases by $0.07 for every additional
pensioner in the region. This indicates that the
more pensioners in a region, the greater the
amount of gaming expenditure in that region. In
contrast, our results indicate that the more
unemployment benefit recipients in a region, the
lower the amount of gaming expenditure in that
region. Therefore, the effect of the number
of welfare beneficiaries on regional gaming
expenditure depends on the type of welfare
payment received. If it is aged pensions, then
gaming expenditure will be higher, whereas if
it is unemployment, then gaming expenditure will
be lower, all other things being equal.
The regression model does not stipulate that the
increase or decrease in spending is the sole
consequence of the recipient’s activities.
Rather, it simply finds a statistically
significant
relationship between regional gaming expenditure
and the number of recipients of particular
types of welfare, without specifying the reason
for this relationship. Therefore it is possible,
for instance, that when a claimant receives rent
assistance (part of the “other” payments
category), he or she may spend more of his own
money but may also encourage other
gamblers to bet more.
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