GamCare, a national helpline in the U.K., said new statistics show a sharp rise in women searching for help with gambling addictions. Data revealed a 4 percent rise in women needing support.
The study indicated 2,764 women contacted the helpline in 2019-2020, but the numbers rose to 3,005 in 2020-2021. Women also comprised 23 percent of the calls between April 2020 to April 2021, a jump of 19 percent from 2018 to 2019.
Marina Smith, manager of GamCare’s women’s program, told The Independent the increase goes back to the Covid-19-fueled lockdowns.
“This has created many more opportunities for women to gamble,” she said. “Data shows women have been more likely to be furloughed in the pandemic, as well as taking on more caring responsibilities. This can make recovery more difficult. Social support is extremely important for recovery from gambling.”
Another factor speaks to the rise of mobile gambling. Some 70 percent of women gamble online.
Gamstop, a U.K. tool to block gambling apps and websites, has signed up 50,000 women for its service. In March 2020, women represented 26 percent of all its users, but that figure increased to 31 percent by September.
“Women talk to me about not thinking about anything else. No stresses and anxieties of day-to-day life. But the coping mechanism exacerbates the underlying issues,” said psychotherapist Liz Carter.
Carter says gambling is like self-medication for stress, anxiety, or depression.
She gave another example of a woman who was so heavily addicted to gambling she lost everything she owned and will soon have to sell her home. “She cannot stop for two reasons. She is trying to get her money back. Also, by this stage, her real life feels so scary and so dark she can’t face it, so she is continually seeking to escape it.”
In related news, results from a U.K. Gambling Commission telephone study in July indicated online gambling is a growing issue post-pandemic. The study conducted in the fall of 2020 and the spring 2021, asked about gambling done the prior four weeks.
The total number who had gambled declined across all demographics but one, sliding to 41.6 percent. Additionally, betting frequencies fell 29 percent compared to 2020 when it dropped 21.3 percent.
Yet the number partaking in gambling online increased through all age groups to 24.7 percent in comparison to 21.9 percent the year before. But the results decreased if you exclude the national lottery from the equation, according to SBC News.
“The pandemic has significantly impacted gambling behavior and it is yet unclear whether this will have a short- or long-term impact,” said Anna Hemmings, chief executive, at GamCare. “Online gambling is a growing issue for callers to the National Gambling Helpline and we want people to know we are here for them and can help.”
The study found only a slight reduction in the problem gambling rate, from 0.5 percent to 0.4 percent, although the number of moderate risk gamblers’ fell 0.7 percent and low risk gamblers tumbled 2.3 percent.
A Yonder survey funded by the Commission said gamblers are not knowledgeable enough about safer gambling tools. The study surveyed 8,000 people, with 4,576 admitted to gambling in the prior 12 months, according to iGaming Business.
Only 13 percent used one of the seven safer gambling tools, with younger players more likely to partake. While 26 percent of those aged 18 to 24 admitted to using one tool, only 4 percent of 65 plus did so. Online gamblers were also more likely to rely on at least one tool, but their numbers still came in at only 16 percent.
Limits on deposits or losses were the tool used most frequently by 8 percent of those surveyed. Reality check tools followed with 5 percent, time out 4 percent of players, and exclusion, 3 percent. Only 2 percent tried blocking software such as Gamban, multi-operator self-exclusion such as Gamstop or payment-blocking tools from banks.
Awareness revealed placing limits was the only tool familiar to more than half the gamblers, while 37 percent were aware of reality checks, 45 percent of time out and 29 percent product-level exclusions.
“It was particularly interesting to see that the awareness of payment card blocking with your bank, which was first brought in during 2018, had higher levels of awareness than some of the more established gambling management tools,” the Gambling Commission said.
