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
Experience and impact of family members’ gambling
A significant proportion of 11 to 17 year olds (28 percent) have seen family members they live with gamble. However, almost three in five (58 percent) have not.
Figure 10: Experience of ever seeing family members gambling
Figure 10 information
GC_FAMGAM. Have you ever seen any of the family members that you live with gambling? When we talk about gambling, we mean any activity which involves risking money (or something of value) in a game or a bet in the hope of winning money or a prize.
Base: All 11 to 17 year olds answering (2,781).
| Experience of family members gambling | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Yes | 28% |
| No | 58% |
| Don't know | 14% |
Boys were more likely than girls to have seen their family members gamble (30 percent compared to 24 percent).
Young people who had ever seen family members gamble were asked if this had affected specific aspects of their lives either sometimes, often, all of the time or never. A combination figure for ‘sometimes’, ‘often’, or ‘all of the time’ has been used to the report the impact that gambling can have, unless specified otherwise.
The most common impact of gambling by a family member, as shown in Figure 11, was that it helped to pay for other things or activities for example holidays, trips, clubs, just over one in ten (12 percent) said that this happened either sometimes, often, or all of the time.
Family members gambling impacted less on parents or guardians having time to spend with young people (7 percent) or the availability of food at home or money on school canteen card or account (mentioned by 3 percent). However, 9 percent of young people felt that it had resulted in more arguments or tension at home.
Figure 11: The impact that family members’ gambling can have on young people
Figure 11 information
GC_FAMGAMFOOD GC_FAMGAMPAY GC_FAMLEDTME GC_FAMLEDARG. Thinking about the last 12 months, how often, if at all, has your family’s gambling led to any of the following things?
Base: All 11 to 17 year olds answering who have seen family members live with gamble 'Stopped you from having enough food (food at home or money on school canteen card or account)' (774). 'Helped your family to pay for other things or activities for example, holidays, trips, clubs' (772). 'Your parents or guardians having less time to spend with you' (774). 'More arguments or tension at home' (773).
| The impact that family members’ gambling can have on young people | Percentage who never | Percentage who rarely | Percentage who sometimes | Percentage who often | Percentage who all the time | Percentage who don't know | Percentage who are not applicable |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| More arguments or tension at home | 77% | 7% | 4% | 3% | 3% | 3% | 4% |
| Your parents or guardians having less time to spend with you | 82% | 4% | 3% | 2% | 2% | 2% | 4% |
| Helped your family pay for other things or activities | 68% | 10% | 7% | 3% | 2% | 6% | 4% |
| Stopped you from having enough food (food at home or money on school canteen card and/or account) | 87% | 4% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 2% | 4% |
Boys were more likely than girls to say that family members gambling had impacted on the availability of food at home or money on school canteen card or account all the time or often (5 percent compared to 1 percent).
Those aged 13 years old who lived with a family member that gambled were more likely than other respondents to say that family members gambling had resulted in more arguments or tension at home (18 percent compared to 9 percent).
Young people who had seen family members they live with gamble were then asked how it had affected them personally. Over one in twenty said that it had made them feel worried (8 percent) or sad (7 percent) either all of the time, some of the time or often. Of these, 2 percent felt worried or sad all of the time about family members or people they live with gambling. However, for the most part they stated that this never happened.
Black and minority ethnic groups were more likely than people from white ethnic groups to say that family members gambling had made them feel worried (15 percent compared to 6 percent).
Figure 12: The impact that family members’ gambling can have on young people’s emotions
Figure 12 information
GC_NEWFELTBADFAMSAD GC_NEWFELTBADFAMWOR. In the past 12 months how often, if at all, would you say that gambling among your family members and/or people you live with has made you feel…
Base: All 11 to 17 year olds answering who have seen family members live with gamble 'Sad' (754). 'Worried' (751).
| The impact that family members’ gambling can have on young people | Percentage who never | Percentage who rarely | Percentage who sometimes | Percentage who often | Percentage who all the time | Percentage who don't know |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Worried | 80% | 8% | 4% | 2% | 2% | 4% |
| Sad | 83% | 5% | 4% | 1% | 2% | 5% |
The impact of gambling on schoolwork
Last updated: 16 November 2023
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