The CEO of GambleAware, Zoë Osmond, has described gambling as “a serious public health issue” and the organisation’s research comes as it seeks to strengthen that idea in the public imagination. Last year, the NHS stepped back from a “dual funding” relationship with GambleAware for the National Gambling Treatment Service, citing complaints from patients. GambleAware is an independent charity and describes itself as the “strategic commissioner of gambling harm education”. Already long-delayed, the GRA was not mentioned in the king’s speech last month. One of the proposals mooted as part of the government’s Gambling Reform Act had been a series of protections for gamblers under 25, including a limit on the size of stakes allowed in online casinos. They will concern those working to prevent gambling harm in the UK and heighten calls for change. The figures were recorded by Ipsos and commissioned by GambleAware, the industry-funded body.

But the latest research suggests that the concerns of young people who continue to bet are far greater than those among older cohorts.

Recent statistics have shown a decline in the number of young adults gambling, with the Gambling Commission in March reporting that 28.9% of those aged 16-24 had gambled in the previous month, down from 35.8% in the equivalent period in 2019.

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