55,000 children are gambling addicts

Number has quadrupled in only three years

THE number of child gambling addicts in the UK has remained stubbornly high, leaving tens of thousands of families ‘living a nightmare’.

There are 140,000 children aged between 11 and 16 who have, or risk having, a gambling problem, according to a report published yesterday.

The number has increased by 15,000 in a year. Of the 140,000, some 55,000 have a gambling addiction – a figure that has quadrupled since 2016.

The report also found more than one in ten 11 to 16 year-olds – about 350,000 – had gambled their own money in the past week, betting an average of £17 each.

This is more than the number who used e- cigarettes, smoked tobacco or taken drugs.

Gambling included on fruit machines in pubs, bingo, in betting shops or via online websites

– all of which are illegal for under18s. A significant proportion – almost 100,000 children – had gambled online, three times more than the previous year.

Charles Ritchie, of the charity Gambling With Lives, which was set up by parents bereaved by gambling-related suicide, said: ‘Parents should be very worried that gambling online has increased and, that child gamblers are four times more likely to get addicted than adults. This is a life-threatening illness that can result in suicide and there are no public health warnings.’

Companies are still bombarding under- 17s with advertising, according to the Gambling Commission report. Some 360,000 children have been directly targeted with marketing via email, their phone or on social media – even though this is banned under advertising rules. More than 2.2 million children had seen or heard gambling ads or sponsorship, and 150,000 of this group said it had prompted them to gamble with money.

The report also revealed children had been effectively exposed to gambling via controversial ‘loot boxes’ in computer games. More than 1.4 million had paid money to open unregulated loot boxes, embedded in popular computer games such as Fortnite or FIFA.

The Lord Bishop of St Albans, Alan Smith, said the figures showed that ‘tens of thousands of families could be living in a nightmare’.

He added: ‘When the average spend on gambling by children is £17 per week, it is evidence of potential serious family finance problems. A civilised, modern society must not accept this crisis as normal or become content with it.’

Lord Chadlington, former chairman of Action On Addiction, said: ‘This reinforces the need for further independent research on gamblingrelated harm.’ Labour deputy leader Tom Watson, who wants to bring in a new Gambling Act, said: ‘Levels of problem gambling among children remain stubbornly high.

‘One child gambling addict is too many, let alone 55,000, and these figures show one in ten children is gambling every week. The Government’s soft-touch approach to gambling regulation has failed.’

The Mail has campaigned for tighter gambling regulations for many years.

The industry regulator’s report was based on an Ipsos Mori survey of 2,950 11 to 16-year-olds, between February and June.

The survey asked if children had used gambling to escape problems in their daily lives, if they had stolen money to gamble or if they had chased losses. Boys are about three times more likely to develop a gambling problem than girls, the data showed.

But although problem gambling remains high, the number of children gambling regularly is falling. In 2015, 17 per cent were gambling regularly, whereas this year the number is 11 per cent.

Gambling Commission executive director Tim Miller said: ‘Any child or young person that experiences harm from these areas is a concern to us and we are absolutely committed to doing everything we can to protect them from gambling harms.

‘Where operators have failed to protect children and young people, we have and will continue to take firm action.’

THE numbers alone are terrifying. According to a major report, 55,000 children in this country aged between 11 and 16 are addicted to gambling, with 85,000 more classed as ‘at risk’.

More depressing by far than these bare statistics is the knowledge that behind them lie myriad untold stories of family trauma, blighted childhood and utter despair. The Gambling Commission – which ordered the report – claims it has tightened rules on children using betting sites and, along with the industry, worked to raise awareness.

Yet problem gambling continues to rise. Whatever they are doing, it’s not nearly enough. With one in ten children gambling every week on fruit machines, bingo and online sites, we are in the throes of a national crisis.

Light touch regulation is manifestly failing, and children are constantly bombarded with gambling adverts.

This avaricious industry – which claws in £14billion a year – must be made to do far more to protect them.

It simply cannot be allowed to go on gambling with young lives.