Fewer British Teenagers Are Gambling With Their Own Money, UKGC Survey Finds
Fewer children in Britain are spending their own money on gambling, and very few are doing it on products restricted by age. That is the headline from the latest Young People and Gambling survey, published by the Gambling Commission on November 12, 2026. It also follows the regulator's wider work on youth prevention funded by the gambling levy.
The research was carried out by Ipsos and covers 3,867 pupils aged 11 to 17 in England, Scotland and Wales. Pupils completed an online questionnaire in class between January 12 and June 12, 2026, across academies, maintained schools and independent schools.
One quarter of respondents (26%) said they had spent their own money on some form of gambling in the previous 12 months. That compares with 31% in 2022. The Commission cautions that the 2022 sample did not include Year 12 pupils or independent schools, so the comparison is indicative rather than exact.
Age-Restricted Products Account For A Small Share
The split between product types explains why the figures are less alarming than the top line suggests. Participation in non-age-restricted activities was 24%, while participation in age-restricted gambling was 5%. Arcade gaming machines such as penny pushers and claw grabs were the most common activity involving a young person's own money, at 19%.
Informal gambling came next. Around 11% of young people had placed a bet for money with friends or family, and 5% had played cards for money. These are activities that sit largely outside the licensed industry.
Online play was also low. According to the Commission's online gambling findings, 7% of young people had gambled online in the past year. That includes 3% who placed a bet on a betting website or app and 3% who played an online game on a casino website. A further 2% had played bingo online and 2% had bet on esports.
Older teenagers were more likely to gamble online, at 8% of 14 to 17 year olds against 5% of 11 to 13 year olds. Boys were more likely than girls to play casino games online, at 4% against 1%.
Parents' Accounts And Underage Checks
Where young people do reach online gambling, family accounts are part of the picture. Of those who had played bingo online, bet on esports, or used casino or betting sites, 29% said they had used a parent's or guardian's account with permission and 8% said they had done so without it. Both figures were broadly unchanged from 2025, and the Commission reported no statistically significant difference.
The wider headline findings show that 73% of young people who have experienced gambling did so with a parent, carer or guardian, while 8% gambled alone. Some 17% of those who had ever gambled said they had been stopped because they were underage. Overall, 55% of young people had some experience of gambling, down from 60% in 2022, with 45% having gambled in the last 12 months.
Casino Games Hub
Advertising Exposure Remains High
Advertising is where the survey is least reassuring. Some 89% of young people recalled seeing or hearing gambling advertising or promotions in the past year. Weekly exposure was highest on social media (55%), live streaming or video sharing platforms (53%),television (52%) and apps (51%).
Around 15% of young people followed gambling-related content on social media or streaming platforms, and 38% of those said influencers, creators or streamers they follow had advertised gambling-related content to them.
Of the young people who had seen gambling advertising, 10% said it had prompted them to spend money on gambling when they had not planned to, although the Commission notes that some of those respondents reported no gambling participation elsewhere in the survey.
Problem Gambling Scores Hold Steady
On the youth-adapted problem gambling screen, 0.9% of young people scored four or more, the threshold for problem gambling. A further 2.0% were classed as at risk, and 23.1% scored zero or one. The share scoring four or more has remained relatively stable since 2022.
The survey also looked at gaming. Some 22% of all 11 to 17 year olds said they had opened virtual loot boxes or surprise boxes using their own money, and 82% were aware of at least one type of in-game item activity.
Most young people (81%) said they felt well informed about gambling risks, and 68% said someone had spoken to them about the potential problems it can cause.
The Commission will publish the next edition in November 2027, which will show whether the decline in participation continues.
