The minimum age for playing the National Lottery or buying a scratchcard will rise from 16 to 18, which means that people under-18 will be banned from playing these sorts of gambling games. Although people under 18 were banned from online gambling in April, those aged 16 or over could still buy lottery tickets or scratch cards in physical stores.
This comes after the major review of gambling laws to protect children and vulnerable people from gambling addiction. Another reason behind this review is the fact that 31.2% of Britons aged 16 to 24 were gambling last year.
The minister for sport, tourism and heritage, Nigel Huddleston, said that the new restrictions will ensure that the lottery is not a “getaway to problem gambling’, especially now with the major growth of online gambling in recent years.
A cross-party group of MPs have been complaining to prevent teenagers from getting into gambling, as they think that allowing youngsters to buy lottery tickets, scratchcards and gamble online can be just a start to much harder forms of gambling.
The Government’s white paper will be revealed towards the end of this year or the beginning of 2022.
Earlier this month, Northern Ireland also vowed to reform its gambling laws in 2021.