Three quarters of children exposed to TV gambling ads
Gambling Commission survey finds 1% of those aged 11-15 begin to gamble after seeing adverts
Three-in-four British children say they have been exposed to gambling ads on TV in the past year, with 1% revealing the adverts had prompted them to gamble for the first time, a new Gambling Commission report has found.
The 2016 Young People and Gambling survey, which was published this morning, detailed the prevalence of gambling among minors, with more than 2,000 11-15 year-olds surveyed in the 12 months to April.
The headline figure reported by the regulator was that “450,000 children gamble every week”, although the report showed underage activity was predominantly driven by retail, with fruit machines and over-the-counter scratchcards the most prominent forms of underage gambling.
The survey found that 3% of children had gambled online using their own money – 5% of boys and 1% of girls – compared to 4% last year. Not including National Lottery, 2% of those surveyed had gambled online using their parents’ accounts, 1% having done so without permission.
However, following on from news that the UK government is once again conducting a review into gambling advertising on TV (to also include social media advertising), the fact that 75% of children had reported seeing gambling adverts could cause some alarm.
Of those surveyed, two-in-five said they had been exposed to televised gambling ads more than once a week, while 63% of 11-15 year-olds said they had seen gambling ads on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
And while the long-term impact of these adverts is unknown, 1% of those surveyed said the social media advertisements had prompted them to gamble for the first time.
“We want to reassure parents that our rules require gambling businesses to prevent and tackle underage gambling and we take firm action where young people are not properly protected,” Tim Miller, Gambling Commission executive director, said.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Remote Gambling Association told EGR Marketing: “For obvious reasons due to age verification software and technological advantages remote gambling is in a good position when it comes to protecting minors from access to online platforms.
“Our work with the other four sectors, especially through the Industry Group for Responsible Gambling has highlighted what a priority issue this is for all of us and collectively we will continue to address any shortfalls which exist.”