The UKGC has published the 2019 Young People & Gambling survey which looks at gambling trends of 11-16 year olds in the United Kingdom.
The survey focused on gambling and gambling style games that young people take part in.
The findings show that 36% of children that took part in the survey say they have spent their own money on gambling in the past twelve months, while 11% of these 11-16 year olds did so in the past seven days. The numbers are slightly down compared to 2018, when they ware 39% and 14% respectively.
The most common type of gambling activity that young people are taking part in is private bets or playing cards with friends for money.
Also, some of the children report buying National Lottery scratchcards in a shop, as well as playing fruit or slot machines, an activity that usually takes place in family arcades.
Tim Miller, Executive Director of the UKGC commented:
“Any child or young person that experiences harm from these areas is a concern to us and we are absolutely committed to doing everything we can to protect them from gambling harms.“
“We must keep working to prevent children and young people from having access to age restricted products.”
“Protecting children and young people from gambling harms is a collective responsibility and requires us, other regulators, the government, gambling operators, charities, teachers and parents to work together to make progress.“
These are some of the headline findings from the study:
| 11% | of 11-16 year olds say they spent their own money on gambling activities in the seven days prior to taking part in the survey. This is down from 14% in 2018. |
| 5% | of 11-16 year olds say they have placed a private bet for money (e.g. with friends) in the past seven days, with a further 3% playing cards for money with friends in the past seven days. |
| 4% | of 11-16 year olds report playing on fruit or slot machines in the past seven days. |
| 3% | of 11- 16 year olds say they have played National Lottery scratchcards and 2% say they have played the Lotto (the main National Lottery) draw in the past seven days. |
| 69% | of 11-16 year olds say they have seen or heard gambling adverts or sponsorship with 83% of those saying that it had not prompted them to gamble. |
| 1.7% | of 11-16 year olds are classified as ‘problem’ gamblers, 2.7% as ‘at risk, using the DSM-IV-MR-J-screen. In 2018, 1.7% of 11-16 year olds were classified as ‘problem gamblers’ and 2.2% were classified as ‘at risk’. The 2019 results do not represent a significant increase over time. |
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