Perceptions
The Commission also track public perceptions of gambling, using questions in the telephone survey.
Trust
Figure 6 shows the percentage of respondents who agreed, either strongly or slightly, with the statement that gambling in this country is conducted fairly and can be trusted.
Overall, in year to Dec 2021, 30% of respondents agreed with the statement that gambling is conducted fairly and can be trusted, statistically stable compared to the previous year. Gamblers’ attitudes remain more positive than non-gamblers. In year to Dec 2021, a significantly higher proportion of gamblers agreed with the statement (36%) compared with 32% in year to Dec 2020.
Figure 6
Respondents agreeing that gambling in this country is conducted fairly and can be trusted. †
| Year to Dec 2017 | Year to Dec 2018 | Year to Dec 2019 | Year to Dec 2020 | Year to Dec 2021 | Significant 2020 to 2021† | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All respondents | 33.0 | 29.9 | 29.0 | 28.8 | 30.1 | No |
| Gambled in past 12 months | 37.5 | 33.6 | 32.0 | 31.9 | 36.2 | Yes |
| Not gambled in past 12 months | 27.0 | 24.6 | 24.5 | 24.9 | 23.8 | No |
† Statistically significant change from Year to December 2020 at the 95% level.
Attitudes
Respondents were also asked further questions about their attitudes and opinions towards gambling in Great Britain using a series of positive and negative statements originating from a shortened version of the Attitudes Towards Gambling Scale (ATGS-8).
Figure 7
Respondents agreeing with attitude statements. †
Data from chart
| Year to Dec 2017 | Year to Dec 2018 | Year to Dec 2019 | Year to Dec 2020 | Year to Dec 2021 | Significant 2020 to 2021†† | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| There are too many opportunities for gambling nowadays | 80.4 | 79.4 | 82.3 | 83.0 | 81.8 | No |
| Gambling is dangerous for family life | 71.0 | 70.8 | 72.6 | 74.5 | 69.9 | Yes |
| People should have the right to gamble whenever they want | 64.2 | 62.1 | 60.2 | 59.8 | 59.4 | No |
| Gambling should be discouraged | 57.0 | 57.6 | 61.8 | 63.4 | 58.9 | Yes |
| Most people who gamble do so sensibly | 39.4 | 36.2 | 35.5 | 35.9 | 40.2 | Yes |
| Gambling livens up life | 28.4 | 28.0 | 25.8 | 27.5 | 30.0 | No |
| It would be better if gambling was banned altogether | 25.1 | 25.4 | 28.6 | 30.5 | 27.6 | No |
| On balance, gambling is good for society | 14.6 | 13.1 | 12.5 | 15.6 | 14.5 | No |
†† Statistically significant change from Year to December 2020 at the 95% level.
In year to Dec 2021, 82% of respondents agreed that there are too many opportunities for gambling and 70% agreed that gambling is dangerous. In year to Dec 2021, significantly fewer respondents agreed that ‘gambling is dangerous for family life’ (70%) compared to 75% in the previous year. The percentage of respondents agreeing that ‘gambling should be discouraged’ has also significantly decreased from 63% to 59% between 2020 and 2021. In addition, the percentage of respondents agreeing that ‘most people who gamble do so sensibly’ has significantly increased from 36% in year to Dec 2020 to 40% in year to Dec 2021.
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Notes
Last updated: 30 October 2024
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