Gambling addiction: Do senior citizens need more protection?

According to study data from the Federal Centre for Health Education (BZgA), around 430,000 people in Germany are affected by problematic gambling behaviour or a gambling addiction. So far, young male adults up to the age of 25 have been among the largest risk group. Researcher Dr Tobias Hayer has published a book entitled ‘Glücksspielprobleme im Alter’ (Gambling problems in old age) with new and exciting findings.

The Federal Government Commissioner for Addiction and Drug Issues, Burkhard Blienert, has taken the results of the book as a basis to better protect senior citizens from the dangers of gambling. As recently as February of this year, we reported that Blienert had spoken out in favour of a possible ban on gambling advertising. But are older people in Germany really at risk of problematic gambling behaviour or even gambling addiction?

Does loneliness and boredom lead to gambling addiction among senior citizens?

Burkhard Blienert, the Federal Government Commissioner for Addiction Issues, warns that ‘loneliness, a lot of free time and no meaningful tasks or even boredom can lead to addiction’. In fact, researchers Dr Tobias Hayer and Dr Jens Kalke come to the conclusion in their new book ‘Glücksspielprobleme im Alter’ (Gambling problems in old age) that less social participation and dealing with loss events can be the cause of a tendency to gamble in old age. However, it is also a fact that the majority of gamblers over the age of 60 have already gambled regularly in their younger years.

Tip: The almost 200-page final report on the topic of ‘Gambling addiction in old age’ by Dr Tobias Hayer and Dr Jens Kalke can be accessed online here at the Federal Ministry of Health.

Young people bet on sports, older people on slot machines?

Blienert points out that the population needs to be protected from the relevant dangers of gambling in a more customised way. Accordingly, young people are much more likely to have problems with sports betting, while older people tend to favour slot machines. Several years ago, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung devoted an entire page to the topic of ‘Senior citizens and gambling’. At the time, the FAZ author provocatively stated:

‘Anyone who enters gambling halls and casinos is also very likely to see grey hair’.

Last December, an article published on GambleJoe dealt with the now controversial statement that as many as 1.3 million Germans are said to have a ‘gambling disorder’. Despite the new findings, it is still scientifically confirmed that the typical ‘gambling addict’ is young, male and from a migrant background.

Call for more help for older people

The German government's addiction commissioner is now calling for targeted prevention and help programmes for older people. After all, the proportion of elderly people in this country continues to grow. For example, anyone born in Germany in 2022 will have an average life expectancy of 80.55 years. In March 2022, we also dedicated an article to the question of which players are particularly susceptible to addiction.

Blienert is also campaigning at a local level for age- and culture-specific programmes so that older people are less likely to be lonely and still have meaningful activities in their lives. Information material on gambling addiction should also be distributed in care and retirement homes. In old age, so-called ‘critical life events’ such as the death or serious illness of a partner can increase the risk of behavioural addictions such as gambling addiction.

Tip: In a guide that we published back in summer 2021, we answer the question of how gambling addiction can be recognised and effectively combated.

Older people are not always just ‘victims’

Two cases that we at GambleJoe have reported on in the past show that pensioners and older people are not always in need of protection. One case involved a manipulated roulette ball in a casino, for which three pensioners aged between 60 and 70 were convicted.

In another case, an 83-year-old woman is alleged to have helped run five illegal gambling halls.

Image source: https://pixabay.com/de/photos/rentner-alten-paar-bank-park-7390179/