The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has just released its latest “Young People and Gambling Report” which showed a decline in the number of young people engaged in gambling activity in the past 12 months.
Latest Results “Encouraging”
The Commission surveyed 2,559 students within the 11-16 age group who were attending academies and maintained schools across the UK. Based on the report’s headline data, 31% of teens aged 11 to 16-year-olds used their own money to gamble in the past year, down from the 37% recorded in 2020, when the report was last released.
Topping the list of games popular among young people were arcade games (22% engagement), followed by bets with family or friends (15%). Engagement with National Lottery products dropped from 7% in 2020 to just 1% in the past 12 months. The UKGC described the latest data as “encouraging” but the fight against problem gambling is far from over.
Teens Still Suffer from Problem Gambling
The study found that 0.9% of the participants were problem gamblers, while 2.4% were at-risk gamblers. The report once again highlighted the influence family members have on their children, with 36% saying they’re more likely to spend their own money on gambling when they see their parents or a family member engaging in any gambling activity.
Most of those who had gambled in the past year (78%) said they had done it for fun, while 36% said they had done so out of their desire to win something.