Children under 18 in the UK are staying away from gambling companies

According to the annual survey of the UK Gambling Commission, gambling participation among children aged 11 to 17 has generally declined. 74 percent of respondents said they have never gambled. Last year, this rate was 69.6 percent.

26 percent of children who said they gamble reported spending their own money on gambling in the past year. In 2022, this rate was 31 percent. Most of the spending did not take place at betting shops, physical casinos or online betting sites. Arcade machines such as penny pushers and claw machines were among the games that young people showed the most interest in, at 19 percent. Betting for money among family and friends was seen at 11 percent, and paid card games at 5 percent.

The share of young people who said they had experienced negative consequences also fell. This rate was 1.2 percent in 2025 and 0.9 percent last year. Skipping school, spending school lunch money on gambling and lying to family or friends are among these consequences.

The survey found that 5 percent of the 3,867 schoolchildren surveyed in England and Wales said they had spent money on age-restricted products. This suggests that the legal sector is generally doing well with its age verification duties. Even so, some young people get around the system by using a parent's identity, using deepfake images, or through betting companies with weak identity checks or illegal sites.