Underage gambling figures for National Lottery down

Underage gambling on the National Lottery is down to its lowest figures in a decade. 9,000 12-15 year olds were interviewed for the ‘British Survey of Children and Gambling 2008-09’ by the National Lottery Commission. According to the survey, 2% of the children questioned had purchased a Lotto ticket in the past week, compared to 5% in 2006.

Scratchcard gambling figures were slightly higher at 4%, but this was down from 6% last year. Only 1% had taken part in any other National Lottery games, a figure much lower than the 6% in 2006.

The low figures suggest that the new child protection measures that Camelot has introduced are working. These include putting ticket sellers to the test by sending in underage children to make a purchase; making sure that online gambling requires a more detailed registration process; and restricting free-to-play games online to youngsters.

The results are good news for the National Lottery Commission. The Chair, Dr Anne Wright CBE, said that an “effective regulatory framework” combined with a “socially responsible operator” is helping to prevent children from gambling. However, she also said “there is no room for complacency”.

         _        ___       _      ____          
   ___  | |      / _ \     / \    | __ )    __ _ 
  / _ \ | |     | | | |   / _ \   |  _ \   / _` |
 |  __/ | |___  | |_| |  / ___ \  | |_) | | (_| |
  \___| |_____|  \__\_\ /_/   \_\ |____/   \__, |
                                           |___/