Dr Stephanie Bramley (Research Associate, left) and Caroline Norrie (Research Fellow) of the Social Care Workforce Research Unit at King’s introduce their new study. (1335 words)

In May the Unit began working on a new project exploring gambling participation by adults at risk. Here we explain some of the background to this study and set out what we intend to focus on. We would be pleased to hear from people with an interest in this subject—either existing interest or new interest following this blog.

Gambling is a popular leisure activity in Britain. The Gambling Commission says that 45% of adults participated in gambling during the last 4 weeks. Playing the National Lottery is the most popular activity, followed by online gambling, scratchcards, other lotteries, horses, sports betting, online betting and private betting. Between October 2014 and September 2015 the British gambling industry generated a gross gambling yield of £12.6 billion (the amount retained by gambling operators after the payment of winnings, but before the deduction of the costs of the operation) (Gambling Commission, 2016) and in the 2015-16 tax year the tax revenue from betting and gaming reached £2.7 billion (HMRC, 2016). Continue reading →