So regarding the OP's question about the reason for the rise in gambling, the answer is the bad economy that we all facing and live in. If people had their basic needs covered, then this rise wouldn't exist.
Of course, and is obvious that the bad economy we are facing now is the reason why the rate of gamblers keep increasing day by day, because those folks who are not unfortunate to have something doing like job or skill will want to prioritize gambling using it as thier source of income, of course majority of the citizens here who don't have a source of income have decided to dive into gambling. Just to see if they can succeed through that means, but for the fact that we don't have job does not mean that we don't have any other alternative. There are a lot of skills out there which we can learn within a space of 1 to 2 years and then use it as our source of income instead of wasting our time to gamble hoping to make a source of income from it.