Report
Young People and Gambling 2022: Official statistics
Gambling Commission report produced by Ipsos on young people and their gambling behaviour, attitudes and awareness in 2022.
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
- 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 don’t 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
Young people’s exposure to gambling adverts and promotions and frequency of exposure
The survey also explored the extent to which young people are exposed to gambling advertising, sponsorships, social media activity and direct marketing.
The proportion of young people who have seen adverts or promotion linked to gambling offline or online is similar (66 percent and 63 percent respectively).
Offline, the most reported form of exposure is when watching television (57 percent) or being at a sports event (37 percent). Online, 11 to 16 year olds were most likely to see gambling adverts on an app (54 percent), on social media (44 percent), on live streaming or video sharing platforms (36 percent), or on a website other than social media (35 percent).
Figure 27: Exposure to gambling adverts – chart shows ‘yes’ responses when asked whether seen or heard adverts or promotions
Figure 27 information
GC_ADAWARE. Have you seen or heard adverts or promotion about gambling in any of the following places?
Base: All 11 to 16 year olds answering each type of advertising.
Note: This is a multiple response question, so the responses shown will not add up to 100 percent.
Exposure to offline or online gambling adverts | Percentage who have seen and/or heard gambling adverts (multiple response question, therefore answers do not sum to 100 percent) |
---|---|
Offline | 66% |
Online | 63% |
Location | Percentage who have seen and/or heard gambling adverts (multiple response question, therefore answers do not sum to 100 percent) |
---|---|
On television (TV) | 57% |
On an app | 54% |
On social media (including Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok) | 44% |
At a sports event (for example at football stadiums or on players' shirts or around the pitch) | 37% |
On live streaming or video sharing platforms (including Twitch, YouTube) | 36% |
On posters and/or billboards | 36% |
On another website | 35% |
On the radio | 33% |
In newspapers or magazines | 33% |
Somewhere else | 22% |
Overall, boys were more likely than girls to have seen or heard adverts or promotions about gambling both offline (68 percent compared with 64 percent) and online (65 percent compared with 61 percent). The most notable difference in exposure is at a sports event (43 percent compared with 31 percent) or via live streaming or video sharing platforms (44 percent compared with 28 percent).
Older age groups (14 to 16 year olds) were more likely to report having seen or heard adverts or promotions about gambling across all forms of both offline and online media, with the exception of newspapers and/or magazines, in comparison to all young people. A similar pattern was evident for young people who had experience of gambling, not necessarily with their own money, over the last 12 months. In addition, young people who had seen family members gamble, in comparison to those who had not, were more likely to recall seeing gambling adverts across most forms of offline and online media.
Young people who recalled seeing or hearing adverts or promotion about gambling were then asked how often they see or hear them. As shown as follows in Figure 28, approaching half of young people who were exposed to gambling adverts online, for example on live streaming and/or video sharing platforms (47 percent), apps (46 percent), or social media websites (45 percent), saw or heard them at least once a week. In contrast, those who saw gambling adverts offline, usually saw them less frequently.
Figure 28: Frequency of seeing and/or hearing gambling promotions and/or adverts at least once a week
Figure 28 information
GC_ADFREQ. And how often, do you see or hear adverts or promotion about gambling in the following places?
Base: All 11 to 16 year olds answering 'On live streaming or video sharing platforms' (902). 'On an app' (1333). 'On social media' (1087). 'On the radio' (820). 'On television (TV)' (1408). 'Somewhere else' (520). 'At a sports event' (902). 'On another website' (826). 'On posters and/or billboards' (872). 'In newspapers or magazines' (813).
Note: This is a multiple response question, so the responses shown will not add up to 100 percent.
Location | Percentage who have seen and/or heard gambling adverts (multiple response question, therefore answers do not sum to 100 percent) |
---|---|
On live streaming or video sharing platforms (including Twitch, YouTube) | 47% |
On an app | 46% |
On social media (including Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok) | 45% |
On the radio | 44% |
On television (TV) | 42% |
Somewhere else | 40% |
At a sports event (for example at football stadiums or on players' shirts or around the pitch) | 36% |
On another website | 35% |
On posters and/or billboards | 33% |
In newspapers or magazines | 30% |
Overall, boys were more likely to have seen or heard gambling adverts or promotions on a frequent basis than girls, reflecting their greater exposure. For example, boys (53 percent) were more likely to see these adverts on live streaming or video sharing platforms at least once a week than girls (38 percent). Similarly, the proportion of boys who said they had seen gambling adverts on an app at least once a week was higher than girls (52 percent and 39 percent respectively). The figures were similar for frequent exposure on social media (52 percent of boys compared with 38 percent of girls).
Young people who have seen their own family members gamble were also more likely to have seen or heard gambling adverts or promotions on a frequent basis, across all forms of advertising, compared to those who have not seen family members gamble.
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Content of gambling adverts and promotions seen
Last updated: 9 November 2022
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