The “Young People and Gambling” published each November by the U.K. Gambling Commission (UKGC) will be a little different this year.
The commission has since 2011 surveyed 11 to 16-year olds about their involvement in gambling as a way to determine what market safeguards are needed to protect them. However, the Covid pandemic severely disrupted the survey since 2020, due to school closures.
During this interruption, the UKGC researchers reexamined their priors on survey design and questions asked. According to a release: “Gambling is a tricky subject to research, especially amongst 11 to 16-year-olds whose understanding of what is and isn’t gambling, and experience of gambling, varies widely,” adding, “We also cover some sensitive topics in the survey, including questions which are used to identify young people who may be experiencing difficulties with their gambling.”
The statement noted that questions asked children about problem gambling differ from those asked adults: “therefore the results are not comparable.”
During the interim between surveys, the commission asked the Government Statistics Service to review it and provide feedback to help in creating the new survey.
For example, the new survey distinguishes between active involvement in gambling compared to betting with family and friends. Moreover, it only asks about gambling activities during the past year.
In determining whether a youth qualifies as a possible problem gambler, the survey will only reflect youths who spent their own money on gambling.
The commission concluded, “Given the changes that have been made, the report will include data for 2022 only and will form a benchmark against which future waves of research can be measured. Findings will not be directly comparable with previous releases.”
