Child gamblers blowing half their pocket money on habit

Slot machines and scratch cards among temptations, while nearly half paid for video-game ‘loot boxes’

TEENAGERS who gamble now spend half of their pocket money on the habit, according to data released by the Gambling Commission.

Children aged 11-16 who admitted to gambling, including on slot machines and video-game “loot boxes”, spent an average of £17 per week – half of their typical weekly allowance of £34.

The figures show this group is now gambling over 50 per cent more compared with two years ago, when the same group said they spent £10 per week on the vice.

The most common types of gambling were making private bets, playing cards for money, using slot machines and buying National Lottery scratch cards, the survey found.

Around 3,000 11- to 16-year-olds took part in the study, via online surveys completed in school. About one in 10 said they had spent their own money on gambling in the past seven days, and 44 per cent had said they had paid money to open “loot boxes” in video games – random selections of virtual items such as clothing and weapons.

Anne Longfield, the Children’s Commissioner, this week called for loot boxes to be classified as a form of gambling and banned for children.

“Children are open to exploitation by games companies who play on their need to keep up with friends and to advance to further stages of a game by encouraging children to spend on loot boxes,” she said.

The Gambling Commission has previously warned that the gambling of “skins” – in-game digital items used to alter a gamer’s appearance – among children is a “new phenomenon” of “considerable concern”.

It urged parents and guardians to be on the look out for the problem and report unlicensed “skins gambling” sites via a confidential hotline.

More than two thirds of children surveyed (69 per cent) said they had seen or heard gambling advertisements or sponsorship, but 83 per cent said this had not prompted them to gamble.

“Most of the gambling covered by this report takes place in ways which the law permits, but we must keep working to prevent children and young people from having access to age-restricted products,” said Tim Miller, the executive director of the Gambling Commission.

“Where operators have failed to protect children and young people, we have and will continue to take firm action,” he added.

“Protecting children and young people from gambling harms is a collective responsibility and requires us, other regulators, the Government, gambling operators, charities, teachers and parents to work together.”

Over the past 12 months, the number of young people who said they spent money on gambling fell to 36 per cent, from 39 per cent in 2018.

The Gambling Commission said the percentage of young people classified as “problem” gamblers was unchanged from last year at 1.7 per cent, although those classified as “at risk” rose from 2.2 to 2.7 per cent.

Last year, the commission called on the pub industry to take action after 21 per cent of young people said they had played fruit machines in pubs.

This year the figure had dropped to 11 per cent.