Betting and Gaming Council Pushes for Stronger Advertising Codes During Safer Gambling Week

The company creates a Young People and Gambling Report annually and the 2024 edition has shown some worrying signs, including a rise in the number of young people showing some of the signs of having a problem.

The data is gathered from nearly 4,000 students, and is collected by Ipsos in UK-based classrooms.

The Findings of 2024’s Report

The report found that 27% of young people who were surveyed had used their own money to gamble. Some of this is in Category D gambling machines such as claw grabbers and coin machines such as those you’d find in arcades. These are not regulated in terms of age restrictions. Perhaps more pertinent, though, was the fact that 21% had used their money on regulated gambling activities.

Roughly 6% of 11- to 17-year-olds engaged in regulated types of gambling, which is an alarming increase from 4% in the same survey in 2023.

Almost 2% of respondents were evaluated as being at risk for problem gambling, while 23% showed no signs of gambling-related issues.

Other questions in the study included whether minors had lied about their gambling activities and whether they had taken money without permission to gamble with. Both of these figures had risen significantly.

More than half of the young people surveyed have tried gambling in some form, which is much higher than the number of young people using alcohol or cigarettes.

What is Causing the Rise?

Some are stating that the exposure to gambling ads is one of the reasons for the increase and 62% of surveyed children said that they had seen ads online, and 64% had seen them offline. TV and mobile apps were among the most common ways for people to see these ads.

UKGC Director Tim Miller discussed the report and what it shows about the industry. “These forms of gambling can also lead to some experiencing harm. Our report points to the opportunities that parents, schools, and other groups have to also help reduce gambling harm among young people,” he said.