Financial hardship and gambling severity: a population-based study in Finland

Financial difficulties, such as depleting savings and getting into debt, are among the most common harms experienced by people with gambling problems. They occur not only among those with the most severe gambling problems, but also among those with at-risk gambling. Financial hardship, whether caused by gambling or not, can lead to reduced spending on essential expenses, such as medication, health care and food. This can exacerbate the situation for people with gambling problems, who often have other disadvantages such as health problems. In Finland, one in five adults has compromised on food, medicine or medical appointments because of lack of money, according to the results of a recent population-based Healthy Finland Survey.

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between financial hardship and gambling severity in Finland. Financial hardship is examined in terms of compromising on food, medicine and/or medical appointments due to lack of money. The PGSI (Problem Gambling Severity Index) is used to define gambling severity in the past year.

This study utilizes the Healthy Finland Survey, which was conducted between September 2022 and February 2023 by postal and online survey. A total of 61,600 people were selected from the population using a stratified random sample. A total of 28,154 people responded to the survey (response rate 46.3%). The nationally representative sample of the survey consists of permanent residents in Finland aged 20 years and over. The survey had no upper age limit.

The results showed that the past-year prevalence of gambling among the respondents was 56.1%. The past-year prevalence of at-risk gambling (PGSI ≥ 1) was 9.2% and problem gambling (PGSI ≥ 8) was 1.1%. More detailed results on the relationship between financial hardship (incl. compromising on food, medicine and/or medical appointments due to lack of money) and gambling severity will be presented at the conference.