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
Who young people were with when they played gaming machines
When asked about the last time they played gaming machines, the majority of young people noted that there was someone else present when they played arcade gaming machines (89 percent) or fruit and slot machines (77 percent). In both instances, just over half of young people stated they were with a parent or guardian (56 percent for arcade gaming machines and 52 percent for fruit and slot machines).
Just under 1 in 20 (4 percent) young people indicated that when they last played an arcade gaming machine, they were alone. This rises to just under 1 in 10 (9 percent) who were alone when they last played a fruit or slot machine.
Figure 4.1: Who young people were with when they last played gaming machines
Figure 4.1 information
GC_GAMSPEND 2. Last time you did [this activity or these activities] who were you with?
Base: All answering who had played ‘Arcade gaming machines’ (1,640), ‘Fruit or slot machines’ (412).
Note: This is a multiple response questions, therefore answers do not sum to 100 percent.
| Who young people were with when they last played gaming machines | Arcade gaming machines 2024 percentage (multiple response question, therefore, answers do not sum to 100 percent) | Fruit or slot machine 2024 percentage (multiple response question, therefore, answers do not sum to 100 percent) |
|---|---|---|
| Parent(s), carer(s) or guardian(s) | 56% | 52% |
| Friend(s) aged 17 or younger | 31% | 20% |
| Brother(s) or sister(s) aged 17 or younger | 21% | 13% |
| Brother(s) or sister(s) aged 18 or older | 9% | 8% |
| I was alone | 4% | 9% |
| Friend(s) aged 18 or older | 3% | 4% |
| Others | 4% | 3% |
| Do not know or cannot remember | 7% | 14% |
Young people aged 11 to 13 were more likely than 14 to 17 year olds to have been with parents, carers or guardians when they last played arcade gaming machines (67 percent, compared to 48 percent) and fruit and slot machines (59 percent, compared to 49 percent).
Boys were more likely than girls to have been alone when last playing an arcade gaming machine (6 percent, compared to 2 percent) and fruit and slot machines (11 percent, compared to 3 percent).
Young people aged 14 to 17 years were comparatively more likely than those aged 11 to 13 years to be accompanied by friends who were aged 17 years and younger when last playing an arcade gaming machine (36 percent of 14 to 17 year olds, compared to 23 percent of 11 to 13 year olds) and when playing fruit and slot machines (25 percent, compared to 12 percent).
There were no statistically significant changes between 2023 and 2024 in terms of who young people reported being with the last time they had played arcade gaming machines and fruit or slot machines.
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Types of gaming machine played
Last updated: 7 November 2024
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