Report
Young People and Gambling 2023: Official statistics
Gambling Commission report produced by Ipsos on young people and their gambling behaviour, attitudes and awareness in 2023.
Contents
- Executive summary
- Young people’s active involvement in gambling
- Summary
- Young people's active involvement in gambling
- Variations in active involvement in gambling
- Variations in active involvement in types of gambling activities
- Prevalence of non-problem, at risk or problem gambling
- Problem gambling by gender
- Problem gambling by age
- Problem gambling by ethnicity
- Experience of gambling
- Summary
- Overall gambling experience
- Overall gambling experience in the last 12 months
- Variations in gambling experience
- The Impact of gambling on young people
- Summary
- How gambling impacts on relations with friends and family
- How gambling makes young people feel
- The impact of gambling on sleep
- The impact of gambling on spending
- The impact of gambling on schoolwork
- Experience and impact of family members’ gambling
- Online gambling
- Summary
- Young people’s active involvement in online gambling
- Overall experience of online gambling
- Online gambling using parent's or guardian's accounts
- Awareness and use of in-game items in video games
- Awareness and use of virtual money or tokens to bet on sports matches
- National Lottery play
- Summary
- Young people’s active involvement with lottery products
- Wider experience of lottery games
- Buying a National Lottery draw ticket or scratchcard
- Who young people are with when playing a National Lottery product
- Games and gaming machines
- Summary
- Young people’s active involvement in games and gaming machines
- Overall experience of games and gaming machines play
- Who is with young people when they play gaming machines
- Types of gaming machines
- Play in an adults-only area
- The Context for gambling participation
- Summary
- Setting gambling in the context of other risk-taking behaviours
- Setting gambling in the context of other activities
- Reasons why young people gamble
- Why young people do not gamble
- Who young people were with when they gambled
- Attitudes towards and exposure to gambling
- Summary
- Young people's views on gambling
- Feeling informed about gambling
- Being stopped from gambling
- Young people's exposure to gambling adverts and promotions and frequency of exposure
- Content of gambling adverts and promotions seen
- Whether ever prompted to gamble by adverts and promotions
- Following gambling companies on social media
- Appendices
- List of gambling activities and definitions
Why young people do not gamble
Figure 24: Reasons for not gambling
A lack of interest in gambling is the most common reason cited by young people for never spending their own money on it (44 percent).
However, a similar proportion did not participate in gambling activities because it is illegal or thought they were too young (37 percent). This was followed by young people not wanting to play with real money and/or they would rather play with free games (27 percent); because they think they will lose more than they will win (24 percent), and because it may lead to future problems (23 percent).
Figure 24 information
GC_NEVER. You said that you have never gambled or never spent your own money on gambling. Why is that?
Base: All 11 to 17 year olds answering who have never spent their own money on gambling (1,674).
Note: This is a multiple response question, so the responses shown will not add up to 100 percent
| Reasons for not gambling | Percentage (multiple response question, therefore answers do not sum to 100 percent) |
|---|---|
| It’s not something I’m interested in | 44% |
| It’s illegal and/or I’m too young to do this | 37% |
| I don’t want to play with real money and/or I would rather play free games | 27% |
| Because I will lose more than I will win | 24% |
| Because it might lead to future problems | 23% |
| My parents would not want me to and/or allow me to | 22% |
| Because I am not likely to win money | 21% |
| I don’t agree with gambling and/or it is not right | 20% |
| I don’t know enough about these gambling games | 13% |
| It is against my religion | 8% |
| Prefer not to say | 36% |
| Other | 4% |
| Don't know | 11% |
There were gender differences with boys more likely than girls to say that they will lose more than they will win (24 percent compared with 19 percent), that it might lead to future problems (27 percent compared with 20 percent) and that they are not likely to win any money (26 percent compared with 16 percent).
There were also age differences: 11 to 13 year olds were more likely to mention that their parents do not allow them to gamble, than 14 to 16 year olds (25 percent, compared with 19 percent), and were more likely to state that they did not agree with gambling, than 14 to 16 year olds (22 percent, compared with 17 percent). Those aged 17 were more likely than those aged 14 to 16 to state that they don’t agree with gambling and/or that it is not right (25 percent compared to 17 percent).
Young people from ethnic minority groups were more likely, than those who define their ethnicity as white, to cite reasons such as gambling being against their religion (26 percent, compared with 2 percent) and that they are not likely to win any money (22 percent compared with 16 percent).
There has been an increase of 5 percentage points in the overall lack of interest in gambling in comparison to 2022 (from 39 percent). The proportion of young people aged 11 to 13 years old who mentioned that their parents do not allow them to gamble has decreased by 4 percentage points (29 percent in 2022).
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Who young people were with when they gambled
Last updated: 16 November 2023
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