PROBLEM GAMBLING NUMBERS DOWN

[Cape Town 1 July 2006] While the number of problem gamblers in South Africa remains broadly in line with other leading jurisdictions, there been a decrease in the past two years in the number of people who have problems with their gambling.

This is the key finding in a major national problem gambling prevalence study published by the National Responsible Gambling Programme (NRGP), a public/private sector partnership comprising government regulators and industry, including three CASA representatives. This bi-ennial research project surveyed 3003 adult South Africans living in the country’s principal urban areas with easy access to commercial gambling.

NRGP executive director, Professor Peter Collins, said today that the study revealed that 4.8 % of adult South Africans could be considered to be problem gamblers, and “somewhat under 1 %” were pathological or compulsive gamblers.

“This affords us some measure of relief, given the great anxiety which has been expressed in recent times about the negative consequences of gambling in South Africa. Significantly, the results of our study are consistent with the findings of recently-published National Gambling Board research, undertaken by the Bureau of Market Research at UNISA, which also showed that the prevalence of problem gambling in our country had declined between 2003 and 2005.

“However, this does not constitute grounds for complacency, as problem gambling is a condition which develops over a period of time. But what is clear is that South Africans today are better educated about gambling, and our public awareness initiatives in South Africa have obviously met with some success”.

These results, said Collins, confirmed recent research by Dr Rachel Volberg and Dr Max Abbott undertaken in the US and New Zealand which compared problem gambling rates in various jurisdictions before and after the introduction of casinos.

“It was found that in Montana and North Dakota, for example, the incidence of problem gambling increased. In Oregon, and in New Zealand, they declined. The critical variable was whether or not the introduction of new forms of gambling was accompanied by the provision of services for problem gamblers, especially public education about gambling and its potential dangers, along with accessible treatment.

“In South Africa, as in New Zealand and Oregon, we have an extensive programme for raising public awareness about the risks inherent in gambling, and our declining prevalence rate bears testimony to the effectiveness of these efforts so far”, he said.

Based on international best practice, the research team, lead by Professor Collins and Professor Graham Barr of the University of Cape Town, focused firstly on estimating the number of pathological or addictive gamblers in need of the same kind of professional help as other addicts. And secondly, the number of people who were simply gambling too much, out of ignorance or poor life management skills, and who would therefore be likely to benefit from better information on gambling, and perhaps, from counselling. This group are what is known as problem gamblers.

“Our study reveals that 144 out of 3003 respondents answered seven or more of the 20 Gambler’s Anonymous questions affirmatively, which is noticeably less than the number in our survey in 2003. This indicates that 4.8 % of those with easy access to commercial gambling gamble too much, compared to 6.8 % in 2003, and these people can be categorised as problem gamblers. The research also suggests that somewhat less than 1 % of this sample have an addiction to gambling which is similar to alcoholism and drug addiction.

“This is broadly in line with comparable international jurisdictions in the English-speaking world such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the US, where the number of addictive or compulsive gamblers is also around 1 %”.

In terms of participation in gambling, the findings of the research project suggest that 81.5 % of people play the lottery regularly (once a week), up from 72.3 % two years ago. There had also been some growth in the number of people wagering on horses (5.9 %), up from 5.7 %, and table games in casinos at 2.2. %, up from 1.4 % in 2003. Other forms of gambling showed a slight decline compared to 2003, including slot machines at 13.9 % (down from 14.1 %), newspaper jackpots at 2.6 % (down from 3.3 %), and scratch cards at 14 % (down from 15 %).

The number of people who only play the lottery has grown from 41.4 % two years ago to 52.5 % in 2005.

The number of people who never gamble, which was 20.1 % in 2003, has declined to
15 % in 2005.

“This shows that gambling in South Africa remains popular, with growth coming principally from the lottery. Although the number of people who use slot machines has stabilized, the number who plays slots regularly has declined. Horse racing is slightly up, as are table games, in overall and regular participation, but other forms of gambling, including scratch cards have declined.

Research was also conducted into gambling spend by disposable income groups, and this confirmed that all income groups are playing the lottery regularly. Out of those who gamble regularly in the lowest income groups ie with disposable incomes below R1 400 pm, over 70% play the lottery regularly but less than 3% play slots regularly and about 7% regularly bet on horses.

“Although the lottery is played by a large proportion of people, expenditure on slots far outweighs that on the lottery, but is expended by a much smaller proportion of relatively wealthier people.

“Those who play the lottery spend on average just over R81 per month, with the lottery accounting for 26.4 % of total gambling spend in SA. Those who play slots spend R541 per month on average, and slots constitute 43.7 % of all gambling expenditure in the country”.

Conversely, the minority of poor people who do play slot machines and horses spend a high proportion of their income doing so, whereas they spend only modestly on the lottery.

Participation in gambling is evenly distributed by race, although a higher percentage of blacks
(6.2 %) experience problems with their gambling than others (Indians 5 %, coloureds 4.1 %, and whites 2.8 %).

“These findings accord with what common sense would predict. The lottery is a much more accessible product to poor people, both in terms of geography and price, whereas slot machines are a relatively expensive past time. And casinos are beyond the reach of many people in terms of cost, such as entrance fees, and price of food, drinks, other services and entertainment, as well as transport”.

Professor Collins said that the main conclusions to be drawn from the study were:

• South Africa’s gambling market has matured to an equilibrium incidence of problem gambling of 4 %;
• The decrease over the past two years in the number of people who exhibit problems with their gambling is attributable largely to steps which have been taken in South Africa to address the question of problem gambling, especially public awareness and the provision of treatment services, and the effectiveness of those measures. South Africans today better understand gambling;
• The majority of South Africans, including the majority of poor people, gamble sensibly.

Assessing the research, world gambling expert Professor William R Eadington of the Centre for the Study of Gambling and Commercial Gaming at the University of Nevada, said:

“This research is extremely valuable and will contribute substantially to the international body of research into gambling and problem gambling in developing countries. One hopes that it will prove of practical value to South African policy makers and treatment professionals in keeping the damage caused by problem gambling to a minimum”.

State College of New York law professor, and co-editor of international Gaming Law Review, Professor Joe Kelly, said that it was particularly important for a developing country like South Africa to understand problem gambling issues so that everything possible might be done to mitigate the incidence of this phenomenon.

“I have been very impressed with the achievements of the National Responsible Gambling Programme in South Africa, which demonstrates the benefits of close co-operation between government, industry and service providers. The NRGP is providing vulnerable individuals and communities in that country with high quality education in respect of problem gambling, and professional medical help, and this very comprehensive study will appreciably advance those initiatives”, he said.

For further information, please contact NRGP executive director, Professor Peter Collins on 083 270 6956