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
Who young people are with when playing a National Lottery product
Most young people who participated in the National Lottery were in the company of a parent, carer or guardian. For example, when playing National Lottery scratchcards, the majority (77 percent) of young people were with a parent, carer or guardian.
Only a minority (4 percent) of 11 to 17 year olds were alone when playing National Lottery scratchcards.
When playing a National Lottery draw based game, the majority (69 percent) of young people were also with their parents or guardians during the activity. Just under one in ten (8 percent) were alone when taking part in a National Lottery draw based game and boys were more likely than girls to be alone when playing this type of game, while girls were more likely than boys to be with their parents or guardians during the activity.
The proportion of young people playing National Lottery instant win games is too small to allow robust analysis (base of 55), but the findings indicate that most were with someone at the time.
Figure 17: Who young people were with when playing National Lottery games
Figure 17 information
GC_GAMSPEND2. Last time you did [this activity / these activities] who were you with?
Base: All 11 to 17 year olds answering who have played National Lottery scratchcards (342), National Lottery draw (159), National Lottery online instant win games (55).
Note: This chart shows responses to three separate questions, so the total will not add up to 100 percent
| Who young people were with when participating in National Lottery products | National Lottery scratchcards participation percentage (multiple response question, therefore answers do not sum to 100 percent) | National Lottery draws participation percentage (multiple response question, therefore answers do not sum to 100 percent) | National Lottery instant win games participation percentage (multiple response question, therefore answers do not sum to 100 percent) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent(s), carer(s) or guardian(s) | 77% | 69% | 40% |
| Brother(s) and/or sister(s) aged 17 or younger | 7% | 9% | 0% |
| Brother(s) and/or sister(s) aged 18 or older | 5% | 5% | 8% |
| Friend(s) aged 17 years or younger | 4% | 5% | 4% |
| Friend(s) aged 18 years or older | 3% | 2% | 3% |
| Others | 6% | 5% | 2% |
| I was alone | 4% | 8% | 22% |
Buying a National Lottery draw ticket or scratchcard
Last updated: 16 November 2023
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