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.

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Published
16 November 2023

Last updated
16 November 2023 - Changes

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Contents

• Young People and Gambling 2023: Official statistics

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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

Summary

This section of the report maps out gambling participation in the context of other risk-taking behaviours (such as smoking, drinking and drug-taking), and other activities that young people like to do in their spare time. It highlights both the reasons why young people choose to gamble and why they do not. As well as looking at who young people gamble with and any experiences of being stopped from gambling.

Throughout this chapter we make comparisons to the data in 2022. However, it should be noted that the 2022 sample did not include year 12 pupils or independent schools, so any differences are indicative only.

Across the last 12 months, (40 percent) of 11 to 17 year olds had experienced some form of gambling. This is a higher proportion than those who participated in other risk-taking behaviours, such as vaping (20 percent); smoking a cigarette (9 percent) or using illegal drugs (8 percent). However, the most common behaviour was drinking an alcoholic drink (42 percent).

It is important to note the context for gambling: most (74 percent) young people who have ever spent their own money on gambling were with their parents or guardians at the time and say they did so for fun (80 percent).

In contrast, a lack of interest in gambling (44 percent) is the most common reason for not gambling, followed by the recognition that it is illegal for young people to gamble (37 percent).

Next section
Setting gambling in the context of other risk-taking behaviours

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Last updated: 16 November 2023

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