Britain’s Gambling Commission reports on BAME analysis
The British regulator has published new data on black and minority ethnic gambling behaviour.
UK.- The British Gambling Commission has published new findings on gambling behaviours in black and minority ethnic (BAME) communities. The analysis comes from a 2020 survey of 4,000 over 16s, which included 473 interviews with BAME respondents.
BAME were significantly less likely to gamble, with 3 out of 10 (27 per cent) reporting having gambled in the last four weeks, compared to 4 out of 10 (42 per cent) overall.
While the National Lottery was the most popular gambling activity amongst all respondents, the survey identified notable differences in gambling habits.
BAME communities were more likely to engage in private betting on sweepstakes, pools, bets and card games with friends and family (19.2 per cent compared to 9.3 per cent for all respondents).
Meanwhile, 65 per cent of the BAME respondents who said they had gambled in the past four weeks had done so online, compared to 56 per cent of all respondents.
As for gambling harm, more BAME respondents said they had “gambled more than they could afford to lose” (10.7 per cent compared to 3.2 per cent for all respondents.) Moreover, 10.4 per cent felt guilt or angst about their gambling habits, compared to 3.8 per cent overall.
The Gambling Commission said: “Whilst the results show that BAME respondents are less likely to gamble in the first place, those that do gamble may be more at risk of experiencing harm.”
It added; “Gambling isn’t homogeneous and within the BAME population there will be differences in the way that people gamble, cultural and personal, and those who will be more, or less, at risk of experiencing gambling harms.”
Earlier in the year, the responsible gambling charity GambleAware invited proposals for two separate research programmes investigating the consequence of problem gambling among women and among minority communities.
See also: Gambling Commission confirms four bids for UK National Lottery
