The Gambling Commission has just released its annual Young People and Gambling Report, providing valuable insights into the gambling habits of children and young people.
To gather data, researchers conducted surveys in schools, where students completed online questionnaires during class. This year, the study included 3,453 participants aged 11 to 16, as well as 17-year-olds from academies, maintained, and independent schools across England, Scotland, and Wales, for the first time.
The report’s key findings show promising improvements in certain areas.
One notable highlight is that only 26% of respondents spent their own money on gambling in the past year, compared to 31% last year.
Among the respondents, excluding arcade gaming machines, 4% engaged in regulated gambling with age restrictions, compared to 5% in 2022. Additionally, only 0.7% were identified as problem gamblers, down from 0.9% in the previous year.
Furthermore, 2.4% of participants were considered at-risk gamblers, a slight increase from 1.5% this year. In terms of advertising exposure, 55% had seen gambling adverts offline, with 53% seeing gambling adverts online in 2023. These figures represent a decline from 2022 when 66% had seen offline adverts and 63% had seen online adverts.
In response to these statistics, the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) emphasized their commitment to preventing underage gambling. The BGC spokesperson stated that popular forms of gambling among children, such as legal arcade games and bets between friends or family, are not associated with BGC members.
Overall, the report reveals a 2% decrease in youth gambling among 11 to 17-year-olds compared to last year, dropping the figure to 5%.
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