Underage Gambling in the UK – Is it a Big Issue?

Posted by Harry Kane on Friday, May 3, 2024

When the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) first announced its core strategic objectives through 2021, the safeguarding of potentially vulnerable players was crucial. This drive included the protection of underage players, with those aged between 11 and 16 thought to be particularly vulnerable in the marketplace.

But just how prevalent is underage gambling in the UK, and has this issue become more problematic in recent years? We’ll appraise the true extent of underage gambling in the UK in the article below, while asking whether more needs to be done to protect such demographics going forward?

So, How Many Underage Gamblers are There in the UK?

As gambling has gradually transitioned online in the UK, we’ve also seen the practice become increasingly popular amongst younger demographics. This has definitely increased the sheer number of active players under the legal gambling age of 18, with low-variance and themed slots particularly attractive to younger operators nationwide.

This is borne out by the numbers, with studies suggesting that more than 50% of all 17-year-olds currently residing on these shores are participating in some form of online betting activity. This number has increased in line with constantly shifting iGaming demographics, with players aged between 18 and 34 also more active online than ever before.

What’s more, 54% of people aged 17 or under have engaged in a gambling activity within the previous 12 months. This suggests that operators are deriving a disproportionate amount of their income from illicit sources, which raises significant issues pertaining to morality and the efficacy of existing iGaming regulations in the UK. It also raises questions about the prevalence of black-market betting on these shores.

Campaigners will argue that this is barely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the extent underage gambling on these shores. In fact, a number of detailed surveys and reports commissioned by the UKGC have previously revealed that up to 450,000 children aged between 11 and 16 had regularly wagered online.

In December of 2022, a particularly lengthy report commissioned by the regulator found that around 14% of all 11–16-year-olds in the UK had wagered their own money during the previous week alone. This was compared to 13% of people within the age bracket who drank alcohol during the same period. A further 4% of 11-to-16-year-olds had smoked cigarettes during the same period, while 2% who had taken illicit drugs.

Exploring the Extent of the Issue and Potential Resolutions

These numbers make for stark reading, particularly at first glance. The latest figures certainly highlighted that gambling participation between 11- and 16-year-olds had increased slightly during the last 12 months, while they also suggested that youngsters aged between 11 and 16 were at a higher risk now of being harmed by gambling.

However, the same figures also suggest that the percentage of underage gamblers in the UK has actually stagnated in recent times. For example, the 2017 figures showed that gambling participation rates among 11–16-year-olds had actually decreased by four percentage points when compared with the previous 12 months.

Even though some 14% of 11–16-year-olds were thought to have engaged in betting activity during the previous week in December 2022, even this figure was lower when compared to most years since 2014. So, although the issue of problem gambling is concerning and something that must be addressed, it’s not something that’s growing exponentially or in line with increased betting volumes.

If we drill down into the principal forms of gambling among 11–16-year-olds, we also see that 6% of all wagers placed were executed as private bets with friends. National lottery scratch cards also accounted for 4%, while playing cards with money for friends was a little lower at 3%.

Most of these betting channels would fall outside the UKGC’s realm of control, while there are stringent measures to prevent the sale of scratchcards in brick-and-mortar stores. Of course, some 3% of under-16 betting activity also took place through fruit and slot machines, and this is something that can be tackled directly by the regulator.

The Bottom Line – Quantifying and Addressing These Issues Now and in the Future

While the extent or growth of underage gambling in the UK can be debated at length, there’s no doubt that the UKGC has already taken steps to protect players aged 18 and under. For example, the decision to prevent players from wagering online until their identity has been fully verified represented a significant step in the right direction, as it has stopped 11-to-16-year-olds from gambling at source.

Banning the use of credit cards has also worked in this regard. This has certainly stopped youngsters from using their parent’s credit cards from completing deposits and registering, while this has also been the case in Australia. Although such regulations were not rolled out to solely protect underage bettors, they’ve achieved this objective regardless.

Another key focus when safeguarding underage players is advertising. After all, there have been numerous examples of iGaming and sports betting adverts that have either deliberately or inadvertently appeared on child-focused content, exposing kids aged 11-16 and under to sponsored messaging.

This is incredibly harmful, and a blanket online advertising ban has been previously proposed by responsible gambling campaigners. Interestingly, this wasn’t formally recommended or imposed as part of the recent iGaming review in the UK, although it may be revisited at some point in the future.

Of course, there have already been moves to restrict iGaming sponsorships in football, which means that less casino and betting brands will appear on the front of shirts. This has been proposed to prevent the normalisation of betting among younger and more impressionable fans, and we’ll begin to see the effects of this over time. This will certainly be an intriguing development to watch going forward!