UKGC Young People & Gambling Survey 2019, Reduction In Child Betting Numbers
The United Kingdom Gambling Commission has published it’s report into young people and gambling for 2019, looking at the trends in betting for people aged between 11 and 16 in the United Kingdom.
It looks at both gambling itself as well as gambling-style games that young people are able to engage in both legally and in spite of age restrictions that are in place for them. Some of the results of the survey are not actually as shocking as many assumed they would be, with an actual downward trend in gambling by young people compared to last year.
The UKGC feel that the data that they’ve received this year is actually more robust than in previous years thanks to the fact that they have changed the methodology by which the date is gathered, which reflects the changes in technology recently.
The drop in underage gambling will be seen as a good thing, but the Gambling Commission still has plenty of concerns about the relationship between young people and gambling. The reality is that young people are tending to engage in one of three forms of gambling: legal gambling, gambling-style games and gambling on age restricted products that they should be allowed to take part in.
How The Report Was Put Together
The survey was carried out for the Gambling Commission by Ipsos MORI, with just shy of 3,000 people aged between 11 and 16 being spoken to. 124 schools out of 606 that were approached agreed to take part in the study, with the children coming from curriculum years 7 to 11 or S1 to S5 in Scotland.
The findings were then weighed according to age, gender and location in order to give as fair a sample as possible, with both the schools invited to take part and the students asked to complete the survey chosen entirely at random.
The way that things were weighted was the same as when the survey was carried out in 2018, with 2,865 pupils taking part back then and 2,943 taking part this year. The children were asked whether they had spent their own money in the previous 7 days, 1 month, 12 months or more than 12 months on any of the following:
- The main National Lottery draw
- National Lottery scratch cards bought in shops
- National Lottery Instant Win offerings online
- Any National Lottery Game, such as Thunderball or EuroMillions
- Other lotteries such as the Health or Post Code Lotteries
- Slot or fruit machines
- A private bet for money with friends
- Playing cards with friends for money
- Bingo played at a bingo club
- Bingo somewhere else
- Going into a betting shop to have a go on the gaming machines
- Having a go at other gaming machines
- Placing a bet on a sport in a betting shop in person
- Visiting a casino and playing casino games in person
- Playing on gambling website that allow you to win real money
- Taking part in any other form of gambling
The ‘legal’ gambling talked about was having a private bet with friends, playing cards for money with friends and 16-year-olds playing the National Lottery, as well as any gambling that took place at a venue that doesn’t need a gambling licence.
In the past the survey has been completed with a mix of online and paper questionnaires, whereas this year it was all done online.
The Headline Findings
The report offers a number of key findings that will be of interest to those that have been keeping a close eye on the world of gambling and its relationship with young people.
Perhaps the key fact is that 11% of those that filled in the survey said that they had gambled in some form with their own money over the previous 7 days, which was down from 14% in 2018. In 2018, 39% of respondents said that they had gambled with money over the previous 12 months, whilst this year that figure has dropped down to 36%.
4% of children said that they had played on a fruit or slot machine in the previous 7 days. The average amount spent by young people on gambling over the previous 7 days was £17. As many as 5% of respondents said that they had played the National Lottery or used other gambling websites with their parents’ account and with their permission.
Children are using money from birthday and Christmas presents to buy loot boxes on video games, with 49% of those that filled in the survey falling into that bracket.
Using the DSM-IV-MR-J-screen, 1.7% of respondents would be classified as problem gamblers, which is the same figure as in 2018. 2.7% of 11-16-year-olds are classified as ‘at risk’ of developing a gambling problem, which is up from 2.2% last year. Whilst that’s an increase, it’s not a particularly significant one.
The Most Worrying Results
The answers that will concern both the Gambling Commission and parents of children the most are regarding the likes of how they have come across gambling both as an activity and as a concept. 69% of those that took part in the survey said that they have either heard or seen gambling adverts, though the good news is that 83% of those said that the advert had not prompted them into any gambling.
11% of 11-16-year-olds have received direct marketing from gambling companies, which is a large amount to be on the receiving end of advertising considering their age. More than half of those that responded said that they had heard of in-game items like loot boxes, with 44% saying that they’d paid money for them, with 6% of those people having been willing to ‘bet’ with the items either with friends or through third party sites.
The Good News
It wasn’t all doom and gloom, of course, as reflected by the decrease in the number of children responding to the survey who had gambled in the previous 12 months. For starters, 60% believe that they’re well-informed about gambling and 59% are of the opinion that gambling is dangerous. Just 7% of people think it’s ok for someone in their age group to gamble once a week.
Half of the respondents said that someone, usually a parent or teacher, had spoken to them about the dangers of gambling, whilst just shy of a quarter said that their parents have set rules for them around gambling as an activity. Nearly three-quarters of the people that filled in the survey said they that do know who it is that they would go to speak to if they felt that they had a problem with gambling.
What The Gambling Commission Have Said About It
The Executive Director of the Gambling Commission, Tim Miller, said that the news was relatively good, with ‘most of the gambling’ covered by the report taking place in a way that is legally permissible.
Even so, he was quick to point out that more work needed to be done in order to stop young people from having access to products that have age restrictions in place on them. Operators that fail to do so will have ‘firm action’ taken against them, according to Miller.
Miller made the point that the UKGC has been working hard to raise awareness around where such risks may arise from, saying:
“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”
He added that it is a ‘collective responsibility’ to protect children and young people from the harm that comes from gambling, with everyone working together to achieve that aim.
Analysis
The report is interesting in many ways. There is currently a big push from regulators and the government to draw attention to gambling related harm and the impact that it can have on young people. Many fines have been issued over the last year relating to advertising and children to the likes of 32Red and Football Index.
That this report says that fewer young people are gambling than at the same point last year will be seen as a positive, but runs the risk of leading to a slacking off in the work being put in to keep children and young people informed. It will be interesting to see if there is another drop, an increase or a levelling out in the number of respondents gambling this time next year.
One of the most interesting things to note was the number of children and young people responding to the survey and saying that they have bought loot boxes at some point over the last year. They have been in the news in recent weeks as the government and campaigners wish them to be re-classified as a form of gambling, because of the nature of them. That so many 11-16-year-olds have spent money on them will be a concern for the Gambling Commission, which recent told MPs that they did not class loot boxes as a form of gambling.
All told, the message of this survey appears to be that the work of the Gambling Commission and others to inform young people about the dangers of gambling appears to be making a difference. It’s not a significant difference, but it is a difference nonetheless and it will hopefully encourage them to continue to push the message that gambling isn’t a good thing for those aged 11 to 16 to be doing with their time and money. The key now is to double-down on that message rather than ease off because it seems to be getting through.
