People who are gambling at harmful levels are ten times more likely than the general population to have used a warm bank in the past 12 months, according to new research from YouGov.
The survey of 4,202 UK adults, commissioned by the Charity Gamcar, also found that one in six people gambling at harmful levels had visited public spaces to avoid escalating energy costs, compared to just 5% of the UK population.
Over the past year, advisers on our National Gambling Helpline have heard numerous reports of how the rising cost-of-living is impacting the lives of callers. During the past 12 months, advisers have heard from callers who have been using betting shops as a warm bank, people on Universal Credit gambling to make extra money to cover their bills, as well as people on disability benefits who have turned to the activity to try and make ends meet.
The data highlights that parents with gambling issues are particularly feeling the impact. Half who had gambled at harmful levels said they had gone without essentials like food or washing clothes to afford something for their child in the past 12 months, compared to 20% of UK parents overall.
Similarly, parents who had gambled at harmful levels are almost three times more likely to have struggled to buy children’s school uniforms in the past 12 months than parents overall, with over four in ten indicating so compared to one in seven of parents.
In addition, the data suggests that people gambling at harmful levels could be more likely than the general population overall to view the activity as the solution to their financial challenges, despite being more likely to report they are feeling the impact of rising costs. Four in ten believe that gambling will help improve their financial situation in the next 12 months compared to just seven per cent of UK adults.
Anna Hemmings, Chief Executive Officer says:
“The rising cost-of-living is continuing to impact some sections of society harder than others, and the data from YouGov shows the challenges are particularly acute for people experiencing gambling harms . What we are still seeing is a proportion of those who are hit the hardest by the cost-of-living crisis being the ones looking towards gambling to ease their money worries.
At GamCare, we know first-hand that gambling isn’t a way to ease money worries, as well as how important it is to address the financial picture to support someone’s longer-term recovery from harm. We hope with the launch of our Money Guidance Service that more people can explore their relationship with gambling, but also have an opportunity to get a deeper understanding of how gambling could affect their finances going forward.”
