Report

Young People and Gambling 2026: Official statistics

Gambling Commission report produced by Ipsos on young people and their gambling behaviour, attitudes and awareness in 2026.

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Published
12 November 2026

Last updated
12 November 2026 - Changes

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Contents

• Young People and Gambling 2026: Official statistics

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• Executive summary
• • Introduction
  • Headlines
  • Survey strengths and limitations
  • Presentation and interpretation of data
  • Key terms used in the report
  • Acknowledgements
• Wider experience of gambling
• • Summary
  • Definitions
  • Wider experience and active involvement in gambling
  • Experience of different categories of gambling activities
  • Experience of different types of gambling activities
  • Who young people were with when they experienced gambling
  • Being stopped from gambling for being too young
  • Gambling in the context of young people’s spare time activities
  • Gambling in the context of other risk-taking behaviours
• Active involvement in gambling and experience of problem gambling
• • Summary
  • Definitions
  • Young people's active involvement in gambling
  • Reasons why young people gamble
  • The youth adapted gambling screen
• Trends in gambling behaviours: 2022 to 2026
• • Summary
  • Experience of gambling
  • Active involvement in gambling
  • Trends in the youth adapted gambling screen
• Young people’s exposure to gambling
• • 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
  • The role of influencers in advertising gambling-related content
• The impact of gambling on young people
• • Summary
  • Experience of ever seeing a family member gambling
  • Impact of seeing a family member gamble
  • Impact on sleep
  • Impact on wellbeing
  • Impact on school attendance and relationships
• Gambling activities and gaming
• • Summary
  • Overall experience of playing games and gaming machines
  • Types of gaming machine played
  • Playing arcade machines in adult-only areas
  • Who young people were with in an adult-only area
  • Online gambling
  • Lottery play
  • Gaming
• Perspectives on gambling: Awareness, attitudes and behaviours
• • Summary
  • Feeling informed about gambling
  • Speaking to someone about gambling problems
  • Feeling informed about gambling: 2025 to 2026
  • Reasons why young people do not gamble
  • Young people who consider themselves risk-takers
• Appendices
• • Introduction
  • The DSM-IV-MR-J problem gambler screen
  • Research design
  • List of gambling activities and definitions
  • Questionnaire

Key terms used in the report

We have 2 possible ways of interpreting gambling behaviour which are referenced throughout this report:

1. Active involvement in gambling - Young people who spent their own money (defined as any pocket money, birthday money or money they earned themselves) on gambling.

2. Experience of gambling - Young people who have gambled but not necessarily spending their own money on doing so. For example, they may have been involved in picking lottery numbers with family and/or friends or choosing horses in a horse race.

Age restricted gambling - Gambling activities that are licensed and regulated by the Gambling Commission and designed to ensure that those under 18 cannot participate. These activities include betting or casino gaming provided by a licensed operator online or from premises, playing National Lottery products or other lottery products, and playing gaming machines in betting shops.

Non-age restricted forms of gambling - This category covers gambling activities that fall outside the Commission's remit, such as non-commercial gambling between friends and family and bingo played somewhere other than a bingo club. It also includes gaming machines that can legally be used by children and young people under 18. The only exception within this category is bingo played somewhere other than a bingo club. Most instances are not age restricted; however, where bingo is played for money, it becomes age restricted.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fourth Edition - Multiple Response Juvenile (DSM-IV-MR-J) is a youth-adapted screening instrument used to assess whether young people who gamble report behaviours associated with experiencing problems with their gambling. These behaviours include needing to gamble with more money to get the amount of excitement you want, spending more on gambling than you planned to or taking dinner money or fare money without permission to spend on gambling. The classification is based on self-reported responses to the screening questions and is not a clinical diagnosis nor should it be confused with a measure of addiction. The DSM-IV-MR-J is not directly comparable with adult problem gambling screens, including the Problem Gambling Severity Index, or with the adult equivalent of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fourth Edition (DSM-IV), because these measures use different questions and scoring approaches. Scores are then grouped into these categories:

• young people who have never gambled
• young people scoring 0 or 1 on the DSM-IV-MR-J, representing a young person who does not experience any ‘problems’ with their gambling
• young people scoring 2 or 3 on the DSM-IV-MR-J, representing a young person who is ‘at risk’
• young people scoring 4 or more on the DSM-IV-MR-J, representing a young person experiencing ‘problems’ with their gambling.

Gaming - Although the Commission does not regulate gaming, there has been a convergence of gaming and gambling over time, with games now including features which are akin to gambling. These include outcomes or rewards in online gaming, such as loot boxes and monetised in-game items, including skins. This survey explores young people’s awareness and engagement with gaming activities to provide insight into the link between gaming and gambling.

For further information on terms used throughout this report and their definitions see the Appendices.

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Presentation and interpretation of data Next section
Acknowledgements

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Last updated: 12 November 2026

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