British Medical Journal: The future of gambling in Britain

EDITOR--In the light of the forthcoming review of gambling legislation, Volberg considers the future of gambling in Britain, and hypothesises that the increasing availability of gambling opportunities will lead to an increased prevalence of problem gamblers) She notes the lack of baseline data on gambling in Britain before the National Lottery was introduced and argues that future changes in gambling should be monitored over time.

Two days before the publication of this editorial, the National Centre for Social Research published the results from the first national survey of gambling behaviour in Britain.[2] The survey (of 7000 people) found that 72% of the population participates in at least one gambling activity each year and that 65% play the National Lottery. The survey estimates that 0.8% of the population are problem gamblers (95% confidence interval 0.6% to 1.0%). This equates to about a third of a million people.

Volberg argues that the National Lottery is likely to increase women's participation in gambling and therefore to increase the proportion of female problem gamblers. The British survey found that men are more likely to participate in most types of gambling: fruit machines (20% men, 8% women), private betting (17% men, 6% women), horse races (18% men, 9% women), and the football pools (13% men, 5% women). However, participation in the lottery is only slightly higher among men (68% men, 62% women). The only activity that women are more likely to play is bingo (10% women, 5% men). As well as being more likely to gamble, a higher percentage of men are problem gamblers (1.3% men, 0.5% women).

As Volberg points out, the lack of data on gambling in Britain before the National Lottery means that it is not possible to assess its impact. But it is not just the lottery that is changing the face of gambling. A notable activity for future concern is internet gambling, currently done by only 1% of the British population but a figure that is likely to increase dramatically over the next few years. Now that there are reliable data on gambling and problem gambling in Britain, the impact of future changes in legislation should be monitored. Adequate funding of prevention and treatment programmes is necessary to minimise the harm that such changes may have.

[1] Volberg RA. The future of gambling in Britain. BMJ 2000;320:1556. (10 June.)

[2] Sproston K, Erens B, Orford J. Gambling behaviour in Britain: results from the gambling prevalence survey. London: National Centre for Social Research, 2000).

Kerry Sproston senior researcher National Centre for Social Research, Edinburgh EH1 1LZ

K.Sproston@natcen.ac.uk

Bob Erens research director

National Centre for Social Research, London EC1V 0AX

Jim Orford professor of clinical and community psychology

School of Psychology, University of Birmingham and Northern Birmingham Mental Health NHS Trust, Birmingham B15 2TT