Report
Understanding the impact of increased cost of living on gambling behaviour - Final report
Gambling Commission's research report with Yonder into the behaviours and motivations of gamblers during the current period of high cost of living in Great Britain.
Contents
- Introduction
- Methodology
- How to read this report
- Summary of findings
- Personal finances and cost of living
- Financial comfort and concerns around cost of living
- Relationship with gambling
- Impact of cost of living on gambling behaviours
- Gambling has stayed the same
- Gambling because it’s fun but will make cutbacks if needed
- Gambling is an inherent part of life
- Change in gambling behaviour
- The number of occasions on which you have spent money on these gambling activities
- The amount of money spent on these gambling activities
- The amount of time spent gambling on these activities
- Typical stakes
- Motivations for gambling
- Conclusions
- Appendix A - Gambling activities
- Appendix B - Reading longitudinal tables
- Appendix C - Motivations for gambling – subgroup analysis by statement
Relationship with gambling
This research showed great consistency with previous work conducted by the Commission. In line with the Path to Play1 and the impact of passive influences, participants tended to have a long standing and deep-seated relationship with gambling which typically stemmed from exposure at a young age.
Within this sample, there was greatest representation amongst those:
- who gamble principally for the buzz of winning and participation or because they enjoy the social aspect
- those who enjoy gambling but not to the same extent as those who gamble primarily for fun
- those who feel that they have a degree of knowledge, skill and experience in gambling which they can leverage to their own advantage.
Awareness of the risk of gambling harm is high. Exposure is driven both passively through public campaigns (such as "when the fun stops, stop") and actively through personal experience. These experiences ranged from experience of losing more than they could afford and chasing losses through to accumulating gambling related debts. In correlation with this awareness of risk of gambling harms was a high awareness of safer gambling tools available.
Participants were spontaneously able to recall the options to use spending caps on specific websites, bank card blockers and self-exclusion, time out tools. However, participant usage with these more ‘formal tools’ was limited due to preferring more informal approaches to self-manage their gambling. These tactics included:
- self-imposing (and adhering) to spending limits
- blocking adverts
- unsubscribing from e-mail notifications so there are fewer triggers to gamble.
“I've started to unsubscribe and turn off subscriptions to some of these sites. And also because you can manage your adverts on Facebook so a lot of times, I’ve cancelled them as I don’t use them anymore” – Male, decreased gambling.
“I would transfer money from my current account into my Paddy Power account. And then I would have it in my betting account so that I can bet from that. But now I'm transferring much less money into my gambling accounts." – Female, decreased gambling
“I have on occasion used the time outs especially if I know that that month I’ve got more important things to use money on and it's not really spare as such. It stops the temptation of I know that I can’t spend it.” Female, Unchanged PGSI
Cost of living on gambling behaviour 2024: Financial comfort and concerns around cost of living Next section
Cost of living on gambling behaviour 2024: Impact of cost of living on gambling behaviours
Last updated: 27 February 2024
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