Number of children playing The National Lottery drops to record low

NEWS RELEASE                                 REF: 04/09 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Number of children playing The National Lottery drops to record low
 
The number of 12 – 15 year olds illegally buying National Lottery products has dropped to the lowest levels in over a decade shows latest research published today.
 
The independent study, British Survey of Children, the National Lottery and Gambling 2008-09, is the only British underage research of its kind and was commissioned by the National Lottery Commission to test the effectiveness of Camelot’s child protection measures. The survey of nearly 9,000 children aged between 12 and 15 in England and Wales was conducted by Ipsos MORI and the Centre for the Study of Gambling at the University of Salford.
 
Just two percent of children say they have played with their own money in the past seven days on Lotto – down from five percent in 2006. Four percent claim to have bought Scratchcards – down from six percent in 2006 (nine percent in 2000). Just one per cent said they had tried other Lottery games compared to six percent in 2006.
 
Online restrictions preventing children from accessing interactive Lottery games appear to be successful.  Of the 96 per cent of children who have been on the internet in the past week, 27 per cent have bought things but importantly just 0.3 % of children claim to have spent money on National Lottery games.
 
 Dr Anne Wright CBE, Chair of the National Lottery Commission said:
 
“This continuing decline in underage play shows that an effective regulatory framework together with a socially responsible operator makes it very difficult for children to access National Lottery products.
 
“But there is no room for complacency – we need to continue to identify ways to prevent the small percentage of children who claim to be playing from accessing games. We will look carefully at the research findings and continue to work with Camelot to see where we might make these controls even more effective to maintain the downward trend.”
 
Under the current regulatory framework, Camelot has introduced a rigorous set of child protection measures to prevent underage National Lottery play.  Measures adopted include: Operation Child – a test purchasing programme for retailers; a strategy to reduce underage play; an advertising code; stringent registration requirements for interactive play; tools to assess the potential appeal of games to those who are under 16; retailer education programmes; and the removal of free trial games from The National Lottery website.
 
One of the new areas uncovered by the survey is the link between those children playing free practice gambling games online and those gambling with real money offline.  28 percent of 12 – 15 year olds say they have played free or practice gambling games on the internet in the past seven days with the highest number playing free gambling games on social networking sites such as Bebo and Facebook. The survey found that 56 percent of children who had gambled with their own money in the past week had also played free online gambling games.  This underlines the importance of the decision by the National Lottery operator to remove free trial games from the open area of its website in 2008 to prevent underage players accessing these games.
 
Other key findings include:
There has been a significant fall in the numbers of children who were classified as problem gamblers – two percent in this study compared with 3.5 percent in 2006;
The number of children attempting to buy National Lottery tickets is going down – 97 percent hadn’t tried to buy tickets in the preceding seven days compared to 91 percent in 2006; and
Children who had attempted to buy or who had bought National Lottery products in the past seven days said the biggest deterrent to not trying again in future would be to be asked their proof of age by the retailer.
 
Professor David Forrest from the Centre for the Study of Gambling at the University of Salford said:
"I commend the National Lottery Commission for commissioning this research to monitor the gambling behaviour of British children. As well as tracking the number of gamblers in the child population, analysis of the data collected has also revealed what factors are associated with child gambling and what might put children at risk of developing problems. The data set will continue to be used for research by social scientists for several years".
 
Julia Pye of Ipsos MORI’s Social Research Institute who conducted the research on behalf of the Commission said:
 
“This research adds to a growing body of evidence collected by the National Lottery Commission over the past decade that suggests rates of underage gambling are falling.  At the same time, children are obviously highly aware of gambling and the National Lottery, and of gambling advertising generally.  There are lots of interesting findings emerging from the research around what children think and know about gambling, as well as their gambling experiences, that should help regulators continue to restrict levels of underage play” – ENDS –
For further information please contact: National Lottery Commission Media Office +44 (0) 207 016 3430/3440/3422 email: s.hanratty@natlotcomm.gov.uk
 
Notes for editors
1.     A copy of the research, British Survey of Children, the National Lottery and Gambling 2008-09 can be found on our website http://www.natlotcomm.gov.uk via this link http://www.natlotcomm.gov.uk/CLIENT/content_inner.ASP?ContentId=405
2.     Where children are referred to throughout the release this indicates those aged 12 – 15 in full time education.
The National Lottery Commission has commissioned several surveys to examine rates of child gambling in the past decade; the overall trends in youth participation revealed in these studies has shown a steady pattern of decline. This latest research is comparable with the 2006 study. All previous research conducted by the Commission into underage play is available on the Commission’s website here:
The 2008-09 British Survey of Children and Gambling was carried out by Ipsos MORI’s Social Research Institute and the Centre for the Study of Gambling at the University of Salford on behalf of the National Lottery Commission.  The research consisted of a quantitative survey of 8,958 children aged between 12 and 15 in England, Wales and Scotland.  Children filled out self-completion questionnaires between November 2009 and February 2009 which captured information about their experiences of, and attitudes towards, gambling on a range of games.  Questionnaires were administered via schools; overall 201 schools participated, giving a school-level response rate of 22%.  The survey findings are weighted by region and gender to be representative of the profile of children aged 12-15 in Great Britain. This research study uses the same methodology, and covers similar topics, as surveys conducted in 1997, 1999, 2000, and 2005-06.
5.     The National Lottery Commission is the non-departmental public body set up on 1 April 1999 to regulate the National Lottery. The Commission’s overriding duties under The National Lottery etc. Act 1993 (as amended) are to ensure that the National Lottery is run with all due propriety and that the interests of players are protected. Subject to these, to maximise the money raised for good causes.