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 experienced gambling activities
Young people were asked who they were with the last time they had experienced different gambling activities. Across the different types of activities, around three quarters of young people (73 percent) said they were with a parent, carer or guardian, whilst just over a third (37 percent) said they were with a friend who was aged 17 or younger. Exactly 4 in 10 (40 percent) young people said they were with a sibling, including just over a quarter overall who were with a brother or sister aged 17 or younger (26 percent). 1 in 10 (10 percent) young people reported being alone on the most recent occasion they experienced the gambling activity.
Figure 3.4: Who young people were with when they experienced gambling activities
Figure 3.4 information
GAMSPEND2. Last time you did [this activity or these activities] who were you with?
Base: All who selected any activity 1 to 17 at GAMSPEND (2,331).
Note: This is a multiple response question, therefore answers do not sum to 100 percent.
| Who young people were with when they experienced gambling activities | 2024 (percentage) |
|---|---|
| Parent(s), carer(s) or guardian(s) | 73% |
| Friend(s) aged 17 or younger | 37% |
| Brother(s) or sister(s) aged 17 or younger | 26% |
| Brother(s) or sister(s) aged 18 or older | 14% |
| I was alone | 10% |
| Friend(s) aged 18 or older | 7% |
| Others | 9% |
| Do not know | 6% |
The pattern of who young people were with when they last experienced gambling is very similar to that reported in the 2023 survey, with the only change being an increase in the proportion of young people who were with friend(s) aged 18 and older (increasing from 5 percent in 2023 to 7 percent in 2024).
Table 3.3: Who young people were with when they experienced gambling activities, in 2022, 2023 and 2024
Table 3.3 information
GAMSPEND2. Last time you did [this activity or these activities] who were you with?
Base: All who selected any activity 1 to 17 at GAMSPEND 2022 (1,736), 2023 (1,969), 2024 (2,331).
Note: In 2022 the options for selecting friends and siblings were not separated out. In the 2022 questionnaire, 'Brothers or sisters aged 17 or younger' and 'Friends aged 17 or younger' were combined as one category response as well as 'Brothers or sisters aged 18 or older' and 'Friends aged 18 or older' were combined into one category. In 2023 and 2024, these responses were presented as separate statements. Therefore, the results are not comparable.
| Who young people were with when they experienced gambling activities | 2023 (percentage) | 2024 (percentage) | Statistical differences 2024 compared to 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent(s), carer(s) or guardian(s) | 74% | 73% | No significant differences |
| Friend(s) aged 17 or younger | 39% | 37% | No significant differences |
| Brother(s) or sister(s) aged 17 or younger | 27% | 26% | No significant differences |
| Brother(s) or sister(s) aged 18 or older | 14% | 14% | No significant differences |
| Friend(s) aged 18 or older | 5% | 7% | Significant increase |
| I was alone | 8% | 10% | No significant differences |
| Others | 9% | 9% | No significant differences |
| Do not know | 6% | 6% | No significant differences |
Experience of different gambling activities Next section
Being stopped from gambling for being too young
Last updated: 7 November 2024
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