A third of 11 to 16-year-olds used their own money to gamble in the last year
Figures from the UKGC’s latest report reveals exponential growth of youth gambling since 2020
The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has revealed almost a third of young people have spent their own money on gambling activity in the last 12 months.
Releasing its Young People and Gambling 2022 report, the regulator revealed the figure had skyrocketed from its 2020 figures.
The percentage of 11 to 16-year-olds spending their own money on gambling now stands at 31%, an astronomical rise from 9% in 2020.
Due to Covid-19, the UKGC did not publish a 2021 version of the report.
The most popular form of gambling among this age group was playing at arcade gaming machines such as penny pushers or claw grab machines (22%), closely followed by betting between friends and family (15%).
In addition, 2% of those surveyed put a bet on esports, 1% bought National Lottery scratchcards, 1% placed a bet online, 1% played at an online casino, and 1% played National Lottery online instant win games.
Within the report, the youth-adapted problem gambling screening showed that 0.9% of 11 to 16-year-olds are problem gamblers, 2.4% are at risk and 27.3% are non-problem gamblers.
Breaking this down into the two groups listed in the report, 14 to 16-year-olds had a higher problem gambling rate of 1%, with 11-13-year-olds sitting at 0.7%.
The 0.9% figure is significantly down from the 1.9% recorded in 2020.
Two in five young people are aware of, or have used, in-game items such as loot boxes in video games. In addition, 39% paid for in-game items or mods, and 24% paid to open loot boxes or packs in video games.
Three in 10 young people had seen members of their family gamble, with 7% stating that it caused arguments or tension at home.
However, one in 10 stated that a family member’s gambling helped pay for things at home, such as holidays and social activities.
Two-thirds of young people reported that their exposure to gambling advertising happened offline, typically while watching TV. A similar proportion saw gambling adverts online or on an app. The most seen advert was for lotteries, then betting, and finally, bingo.
Despite this figure, 82% of those sampled stated that seeing the adverts about gambling did not prompt them to gamble.
Elsewhere, 13% stated they follow gambling companies on social media following the adverts.
The results are based on a sample of 2,559 young people across secondary schools using the Ipsos Young People Omnibus. The survey was not conducted last year because of school closures due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
This gap allowed the UKGC to adjust its questionnaire following recommendations that some questions weren’t understood or were at risk of being outdated.