No Increase in Problem Gambling According to Gambling Commission
The Gambling Commission has proved that there has been no increase in the rate of problem gambling in the UK since 1999. In its latest report, “The British Gambling Prevalence Survey 2007”, the Gambling Commission has reported that the “problem gambling prevalence rate was the same as it had been in 1999 (0.6%)”.
The British Gambling Prevalence Survey is a large-scale nationally representative survey of participation in gambling and the prevalence of problem gambling in Great Britain. The survey builds on the first British gambling prevalence survey carried out in 1999, which was commissioned by GamCare.
This survey has been undertaken to help the Commission understand the nature and scale of gambling in Great Britain at a point before the Gambling Act 2005 was implemented on 1 September 2007. It was commissioned as part of the Gambling Commission’s commitment to the licensing objectives of keeping crime out of gambling, ensuring gambling is conducted fairly and openly, and protecting children and vulnerable people from harm from gambling.
The survey was independently carried out by the National Centre for Social Research, in collaboration with Professor Jim Orford at the University of Birmingham and Professor Mark Griffiths at Nottingham Trent University.
Key findings:
- 68% of the population, that is about 32 million adults, had participated in some form of gambling activity within the past year. This compares to 72% (about 33 million adults) in 1999.
- Only a small proportion of people are engaged in the new forms of gambling available in Great Britain. 6% of people used the internet to gamble (3% did online gaming like playing poker or casino games and 4% placed bets with a bookmaker)
- Men were more likely than women to gamble overall (71% compared with 65%), and on each individual activity, with the exception of bingo (4% of men compared with 10% of women).
- Looking at international studies of problem gambling prevalence, the rate in Britain is lower than Australia, South Africa, the USA, Singapore, Macao and Hong Kong.
- The average person tended to support the view that people had a right to gamble and to reject total prohibition.
This report is in complete contrast to what most of the popular tabloids report who like to scandalize every gambling story. In fact there are two key quotes to come from the release of this report.
“The key message is that overall there has been surprisingly little change either in the number of gambling participants or to the number of problem gamblers since 1999,” said Peter Dean, the Gambling Commission’s Chairman.
“GamCare is delighted to see that the combined efforts of GamCare and the gaming industry, with its heightened commitment to the practices of social responsibility, has led to no increase in the number of problem gamblers in the UK.” Quoted from Gamcare Official Press Release.
