New Study Reveals One in Eight Children Gamble in Europe

It’s no secret that children gamble in Europe, but a recent study shows that this issue may be much bigger than people realize

A massive Europe-wide study of kids aged from 15 to 16 has revealed that one in eight children in Europe gamble on a regular basis. This study included over 96,000 kids, and shows that online gaming, and particularly online sportsbooks in the EU are growing at a staggering rate.

23% of boys reported gambling for money online over the past year, while only 5% of girls claimed the same. The countries that reported the highest percentage of frequent child gamblers (33% or more) were Croatia, Cyprus, Finland, Greece (perhaps playing a Greek bingo game), Montenegro, and Slovenia. The countries with the most regular gamblers (four of more times per week) were Denmark, Sweden, Estonia, Norway, and Finland.

The news that children gamble in Europe more frequently makes sense when you consider the fact that internet usage has drastically increased over the past decade. Most reports put the current number of internet users around the world at 3.4 billion, compared to 10 years ago when it was just 1.1 billion.

What does this mean for the future?

Just because this recent report made EU gambling news doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad thing. Other studies have shown that smoking and drinking by minors has decreased over the past decade. 54% of 15-16 year olds in Europe state they have ‘never’ smoked, and only 46% claimed to have drunk alcohol in the past month, compared to 56% in 2005.

Yes, children gamble in Europe, but as long as they do not develop a gambling addiction this seems unlikely to cause any drastically negative consequences for the future of the youth.

What do you think of the news that one in eight children gamble frequently in Europe? Do you think this will be a problem? Tell us what you think by leaving a comment below!