UKGC publishes survey about gambling trends in youth

The UKGC has published the 2019 Young People and Gambling report, which includes a survey that analyses gambling trends in youth.

UK.- The UKGC published on Wednesday a survey that looks into gambling trends of 11-16 year-olds in the UK. The gambling regulator studied gambling style games that young people legally take part in along with restricted products.

The UKGC said that 11% of 11-16-year olds that took part in the survey say they have spent their own money on gambling in the past seven days, compared with 14% in 2018. This trend indicates a decline in participation since the UKGC started asking these questions in 2011. The most common type of gambling activity that young people are taking part in is private bets for money.

Ipsos MORI carted out the research, which shows that 3% report buying National Lottery scratchcards in a shop in the past seven days and a further 4% say they have played fruit or slot machines in the past seven days, an activity which typically takes place in family arcades or holiday parks.

UKGC’s word

Tim Miller, Executive Director, Gambling Commission said: “This report demonstrates that children and young people’s interaction with gambling or gambling behaviours comes from three sources – gambling that they are legally allowed to participate in, gambling on age-restricted products and gambling style games.  Any child or young person that experiences harm from these areas is a concern to us and we are absolutely committed to doing everything we can to protect them from gambling harms.

“Most of the gambling covered by this report takes place in ways which the law permits, but we must keep working to prevent children and young people from having access to age-restricted products. Where operators have failed to protect children and young people we have and will continue to take firm action. This year alone, we have tightened rules and requirements around age verification to prevent children and young people from accessing age-restricted products, put free-to-play games behind paywalls, and clamped down on irresponsible products.

“We have been raising awareness about where risks may arise from gambling-style games such as loot boxes and social casino games for some time. Even though we don’t have regulatory control in this area we are actively engaging with the games industry and social media platforms to look at ways to protect children and young people.

“Protecting children and young people from gambling harms is a collective responsibility and requires us, other regulators, the government, gambling operators, charities, teachers and parents to work together to make progress.”