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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.

 Figure 6 shows respondents agreeing that gambling in this country is conducted fairly and can be trusted

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.

Figure 7 shows respondents agreeing with attitude statements

Data from chart

Respondents agreeing with attitude statements
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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