A startling rise in youth gambling addiction in Great Britain has been revealed in new data from the Gambling Commission, showing that the number of children with gambling problems has more than doubled in just a year.
With an estimated 85,000 minors now facing gambling addiction, experts and MPs are calling for swift government action to address what is seen as a “growing crisis.” The report highlights significant increases in young people gambling online, often through family accounts, as well as in physical settings like arcades, leading to concerning consequences such as sleep loss, missed school, and strained family relationships.
The report shows that nearly 1 in 10 children in the UK reported family-related gambling issues, while the proportion of youth with gambling problems has risen from 0.7% to 1.5%, with particularly high rates among boys and Scottish youth.
Around 27% of young people aged 11 to 17 said they had gambled using their own money in the past year. Although many bets were placed through legal or informal means, like seaside arcades or betting among friends, there was a notable rise in online gambling, often via family accounts.
Data underscores the heightened risks to young gamblers, with about 6% admitting to betting on age-restricted products like online sports, up from 4% last year. Much of this increase is linked to minors accessing online gambling through family accounts, with football betting proving especially popular among boys.
Criticism is mounting over the prevalence of gambling advertisements and the failure to regulate them, with organizations such as the Coalition to End Gambling Ads pointing to the “constant barrage of gambling ads” as an influential factor in young people’s engagement with betting.
Former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith has called the figures “astonishing,” blaming gambling firms for “going after young people” and calling on the government to strengthen and implement long-awaited reforms to curb the industry’s influence. He criticized the government’s inaction since the release of last year’s white paper on gambling regulation, urging Labour to prioritize the issue.
Duncan Smith emphasized that immediate action is needed: “The gambling firms are completely out of control. If we don’t act now, it’s going to get even worse.” The former Conservative leader also chairs a cross-party group on gambling harm, advocating for urgent measures in the wake of Labour’s delay in adopting more stringent regulations, particularly surrounding advertising restrictions.
The Gambling Commission used the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria, a globally recognized method, to assess the prevalence of gambling addiction among youth. The findings indicated a sharp increase in the number of young people citing gambling as a reason for missed schoolwork or sleep issues. Roughly 6% reported using licensed gambling products that are legally off-limits to minors, attributed in part to adults permitting access through family accounts.
The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), the industry’s lobbying body, asserted that its members enforce strict age-verification protocols. A spokesperson from BGC said that most young people who gamble do so with friends or on arcade machines, adding that illicit sites with no age checks pose the biggest risk. However, calls are growing for a more extensive regulatory crackdown, particularly on advertisements and family-based account access.
Government representatives have acknowledged the report’s findings, affirming their “commitment to strengthening protections” against harmful gambling practices, particularly those impacting youth. A government spokesperson assured that ministers are “currently reviewing the latest statistics and the full range of gambling policy.”
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