Who Gambles?

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Who gambles?
The Survey revealed that gambling participation varied by a number of socio-demographic, health
and lifestyle characteristics. Table 3 looks at a range of these characteristics and outlines which
population groups were more and less likely to participate in gambling activities. The percentages
given in the table show the participation levels for the relevant population groups only, not the
whole population.
Table 3: Gambling participation by socio-demographic groups
Groups more likely to gamble Groups less likely to gamble
Gender Men (71%) Women (65%)
Age 35-44 (73%) 75+ (57%)
Ethnicity White (70%) Black/Black British (39%),
Asian/Asian British (45%)
Income Higher income households (73%) Lowest income households (61%)
Education GCSE/O-level educated (73%) Degree educated (61%)
Marital status Separated/ Divorced (72%), Married
(70%) Widowed (60%)
Economic
activity2 Paid employment (71%) Full time education (51%)
Social
Position3
Lower supervisory & technical
households (75%)
Managerial & professional and
intermediate households (both 67%)
Health Fair (72%) Bad/very bad (62%)
There was also variation in the choice of gambling activities by different socio-demographic
groups. Table 4 offers an example of this by looking at the differences in how men and women
gambled. The table shows the most popular gambling activities by gender along with the
percentage of men or women participating in them.
Table 4: Gambling activities by gender
2007 1999
Men Women Men Women
National Lottery Draw
(59%)
National Lottery Draw
(56%)
National Lottery Draw
(68%)
National Lottery Draw
(62%)
Horse races (22%) Scratchcards (20%) Scratchcards (22%) Scratchcards (22%)
Slot machines (19%) Horse races (13%) Fruit / Slot machines
(20%) Bingo (10%)
Scratchcards (19%) Other Lotteries (12%) Horse races (18%) Horse races (9%)
Private bets (15%) Bingo and slot
machines (both 10%) Private bets (17%) Other lotteries and slot
machines4 (both 8%)
2 This was based on the activity of the household reference person – the person who responded to the introductory
questionnaire.
3 As measured by the National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification (NS-SEC). This was measured for the household
reference person only.