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
Definitions
Active involvement in gambling
Young people who participated in the survey were first asked if they had ever done any of the following list of 17 activities:
- National Lottery draw, for example Lotto, EuroMillions or Set for Life, either with a physical ticket or playing online
- National Lottery Scratchcards (not free Scratchcards)
- National Lottery online instant win games
- other lotteries (for example The Health Lottery, People’s Postcode Lottery, or other smaller lotteries)
- arcade gaming machines (for example penny pusher or claw grab machine)
- fruit or slot machines (for example at an arcade, pub or social club)
- gambling machines in a betting shop
- cards for money (for example with friends or family)
- bingo at a bingo club
- bingo at somewhere other than a bingo club (for example social club or holiday park)
- bingo online (for example Foxy Bingo, Gala Bingo or Tombola)
- bet for money between friends or family
- bet on esports (electronic sports such as playing video games competitively) online
- bet at a betting shop or bookies (for example on football or horse racing)
- bet on a betting website and/or app (for example on football or horse racing)
- game inside a casino
- casino games online (for example online poker or online roulette for money).
Those who selected at least one of these activities were then asked if they had ever spent their own money on these activities, with ‘own money’ noted as meaning pocket money, birthday money or any money they earned themselves or got as a reward. Those who had spent their own money on at least one of the 17 listed activities were asked when they last spent their own money on the activities. Those who cited having spent their own money on any of these activities within the last 12 months are defined as being actively involved in gambling.
Experience of gambling
Young people who had ever done any of the 17 gambling activities listed previously, but not necessarily spending their own money on doing so, are described as having some experience of gambling.
Regulated and unregulated gambling
Regulated gambling activities are those which are licensed and regulated by the Gambling Commission, including betting or casino gaming provided by a licensed operator online or from premises, playing the National Lottery or other lottery products. This categorisation could also include illegal gambling websites which young people are unaware are illegal. This categorisation also includes playing gaming machines in betting shops, bingo premises, casinos or arcades. Due to different categories and requirements relating to gaming machines this report will include some gaming machine play which is not directly regulated by the Commission and in some incidences can be legally played by children and young people. Unregulated forms of gambling are those gambling activities which fall outside the remit of the Commission such as non-commercial gambling between friends and family or playing bingo somewhere other than a bingo club.
Previous sectionSummary Next section
Young people's active involvement in gambling
Last updated: 7 November 2024
Show updates to this content
No changes to show.