Report

Young People and Gambling 2023

Gambling Commission report produced by Ipsos on young people and their gambling behaviour, attitudes and awareness in 2023.

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Published
16 November 2023

Last updated
16 November 2023 - Changes

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Contents

• Young People and Gambling 2023

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• Executive summary
• - Introduction
• - Headline statistics
• - Presentation and interpretation of data
• - Acknowledgements
• 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
• - Applying the DSM-IV-MR-J problem gambler screen
• - Research design
• - Sample profile
• List of gambling activities and definitions
• - List of gambling activities
• - Definitions

Play in an adults-only area

Young people who recalled playing on arcade gaming machines were asked if they had ever done so in an adults-only area, for example in an amusement arcade or holiday park, or somewhere with a sign or sticker saying 18 years old or over.

Eight in ten (79 percent) had not played arcade gaming machines in an adults-only area. However, one in ten (10 percent) had done so, and a similar proportion (11 percent) were unsure. Playing in an adults-only area was more prevalent amongst young people who had seen their family members gamble (13 percent) compared with those who had not (6 percent).

Frequency of gambling also had an impact, with those having experienced gambling in the last 7 days being more likely than those experiencing gambling in the last four weeks to have played arcade gaming machines in an adult only area (22 percent, compared with 17 percent).

The proportion of young people who had played arcade gaming machines in an adults-only area remained consistent since 2022 (10 percent), while uncertainty about whether or not they had played in an adults-only area marginally increased from 10 percent to 11 percent.

Figure 20: Playing machines in an adults-only area

Figure 20 information

FRUITWHERE. As far as you know, have you ever played on any of these machines in an adults-only area. For example, an adult (18 years old and plus) only section of an amusement arcade, bowling alley, holiday park or pub.
Base: All 11 to 17 year olds answering who have played arcade gaming machines or fruit and/or slot machines and know machine played (1,468).

Figure 20: Playing machines in an adults-only area.

Playing arcade gaming machines in an adults-only area	Percentage
Yes	10%
No	79%
Don't know	11%

Previous section
Types of gaming machines

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Last updated: 16 November 2023

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