Report
Young People and Gambling 2024: Official statistics
Gambling Commission report produced by Ipsos on young people and their gambling behaviour, attitudes and awareness in 2024.
Contents
- Executive summary
- Young people’s active involvement in gambling
- Summary
- Definitions
- Young people's active involvement in gambling
- The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition – Multiple Response Juvenile (DSM-IV-MR-J) problem gambling screen
- The impacts of gambling on young people
- Summary
- The impact of gambling on relationships
- Young people’s feelings when gambling
- The impact of gambling on young people’s engagement with school and homework
- The impact of gambling on young people’s sleep
- The impact of gambling on spending
- Experience of ever seeing a family member gambling
- The impact of family members’ gambling on young people
- Wider experience of gambling
- Summary
- Wider experience and active involvement in gambling
- Experience of different gambling activities
- Who young people were with when they experienced gambling activities
- Being stopped from gambling for being too young
- Setting gambling in the context of other risk taking behaviours
- Games and gaming machines
- Summary
- Young people spending their own money on games and gaming machines
- Overall experience of playing games and gaming machines
- Who young people were with when they played gaming machines
- Types of gaming machine played
- Playing arcade machines in adults-only areas
- Online gambling
- Summary
- Young people’s active involvement in online gambling
- Overall experience of online gambling
- Online gambling using parents’ or guardians’ accounts
- Paying for and betting with in-game items in video games
- Methods of paying for in-game items and to open loot boxes
- Lotteries and lottery style games
- Summary
- Active involvement with lotteries and lottery style games
- Wider experience of lotteries and lottery style games
- Buying a National Lottery draw ticket or scratchcard
- Who young people were with when playing lotteries and lottery style games
- Attitudes towards gambling and reasons for gambling
- Summary
- Reasons why young people gamble
- Reasons why young people do not gamble
- Feeling informed about gambling
- Recall of gambling adverts and promotion
- Summary
- Recall of gambling advertising or promotions
- Frequency of seeing or hearing gambling adverts or promotions
- Perceived impact of gambling adverts on unplanned spending
- Engagement with gambling related content on social media and streaming platforms
- Appendices
- List of gambling activities and definitions
Types of gaming machine played
Young people who had ever played on gaming machines were asked about the types of machines they had played. Penny pusher machines and claw grab machines were the most frequently selected, with both having been played by 7 in 10 (70 percent) young people who had some experience of playing gaming machines. Fruit machine style games where you win tickets to ‘buy prizes’ were cited by nearly 1 in 5 (19 percent), followed by quiz game machines where you win small cash prizes or tickets to ‘buy prizes’ (13 percent) and fruit machine style games where you win cash prizes (10 percent).
Figure 4.2: Types of gaming machines played
Figure 4.2 information
GC_FRUITTYPE. Thinking back to the last time you played ‘Arcade gaming machines’, ‘Fruit or slot machines’, or ‘Other gambling machines’, what sort of machine(s) did you play?
Base: All answering who have played ‘Arcade gaming machines’ or ‘Fruit and/or slot machines’ (1,889).
Note: This is a multiple response questions, therefore answers do not sum to 100 percent.
| Types of gaming machines played | 2024 percentage (multiple response question, therefore, answers do not sum to 100 percent) |
|---|---|
| Penny falls or penny pusher machines | 70% |
| Claw or crane grab machines | 70% |
| Fruit machine style games where you win tickets to ‘buy’ prizes | 19% |
| Quiz game machines – where you win small cash prizes or tickets to ‘buy’ prizes | 13% |
| Fruit machine style games where you win small cash prizes | 10% |
| Racing games | 1% |
| Shooting games | 1% |
| Other | 1% |
| Do not know | 8% |
Amongst those with experience of gaming machines, girls (75 percent) were more likely than boys (65 percent) to have played claw or crane grab machines when last playing. This variation is consistent with 2022 and 2023. Boys were more likely than girls to play fruit machine style games where you win small cash prizes (12 percent and 8 percent respectively).
Young people from white ethnic groups were more likely than young people from black and other minority ethnic backgrounds to have played penny falls or penny pusher machines (76 percent, compared with 51 percent).
The proportions of young people playing different types of arcade gaming machines, fruit or slot machines, or other gambling machines has remained consistent between 2022 and 2024.
Table 4.2: Types of arcade gaming machines, fruit or slot machines, or other gambling machines played, in 2022, 2023 and 2024
Table 4.2 information
GC_FRUITTYPE. Thinking back to the last time you played ‘Arcade gaming machines’, ‘Fruit or slot machines’, or ‘Other gambling machines’, what sort of machine(s) did you play?
Base: All participants (answering) who have played ‘Arcade gaming machines’ or ‘Fruit and/or slot machines’ 2022 (1,438), 2023 (1,651), 2024 (1,889).
Note: This is a multiple response question, therefore answers do not sum to 100 percent.
| Types of gaming machines played | 2022 (percentage) | 2023 (percentage) | 2024 (percentage) | Statistical differences 2024 compared to 2022 | Statistical differences 2024 compared to 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penny falls or penny pusher machines | 73% | 73% | 70% | No significant differences | No significant differences |
| Claw or crane grab machines | 72% | 70% | 70% | No significant differences | No significant differences |
| Fruit machine style games where you win tickets to ‘buy’ prizes | 18% | 17% | 19% | No significant differences | No significant differences |
| Quiz game machines – where you win small cash prizes or tickets to ‘buy’ prizes | 15% | 14% | 13% | No significant differences | No significant differences |
| Fruit machine style games where you win small cash prizes | 10% | 10% | 10% | No significant differences | No significant differences |
| Other | 3% | 2% | 1% | Significant decrease | Significant decrease |
| Do not know | 8% | 8% | 8% | No significant differences | No significant differences |
Who young people were with when they played gaming machines Next section
Playing arcade machines in adults-only areas
Last updated: 7 November 2024
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