Gambling is looking like it has lost some importance to younger adults in the UK. A recent study has shown a worrying trend, with young adults no longer gambling as much as they used to. This has sparked some fears that traditional means of gambling are no longer holding the same appeal with younger audiences.
UK Gambling Commission’s worrying survey
The survey in question was conducted by the UK Gambling Commission. This gambling participation survey showed that 16% of respondents participated in some form of online gambling during the first six months of 2016. This is one point up from the 2015 survey and produced similar results to the 2013 survey. So the news is not all bad at least, however, when you break the results down into age groups, things start to look worse.
If you look at the 18 – 24 age group, only 11% of respondents reported gambling online, which is down from the 12% in 2015. Back in 2014, there were 17% of people in this age group enjoying online gambling, so there has been a steady decline in interest in online gambling amongst young adults.
Other age groups actually landed up showing increases in the number of online gamblers, although the increases were generally small. The news in the 18-24 age group gets even worse when you exclude those players who only participate in the National Lottery. Once you do this, the percentage of gamblers drops to 10%.
Why they don’t Gamble?
This survey is sure to spark intense discussion and calls to improve the situation. Many people will wonder why gambling has fallen out of favour with young adults. Some theories are that the younger generation prefers more interactive and skill-based online games, but this survey could also hint at the tough economic fortunes of young adults living in the United Kingdom.
It has been reported that young adults’ disposable income has been growing very slowly, roughly one-third the rate of UK seniors. This would make sense, they can’t gamble if they don’t have any extra money. Time will tell how the industry responds to this and how it affects the future of online gambling.
