New information released by a study commissioned by the UK National Lottery Commission found that there has been a serious drop in the number of children who purchase lottery tickets. The statistics were put down to the fact that lottery operator, Camelot, has introduced tough measures in a bid to prevent 12 – 15 years olds from playing the lottery, as is required by law. Only 2% of this age group said that they had played the lottery with their own money in the past week, compared with 5% in the 2006 survey. 

“This continuing decline in underage play shows that an effective regulatory framework, together with a socially responsible operator makes it very difficult for children to access National Lottery products,” said UK National Lottery Commission Chair, Dr. Anne Wright. “But there is no room for complacency. We need to continue to identify ways to prevent the small percentage of children who claim to be playing from accessing games. We will look carefully at the research findings and continue to work with Camelot to see where we might make these controls even more effective to maintain the downward trend.”