Need drives gambling boom

» Up to 50% of social security grants to younger groups are blown on gambling.

- Ciaran Ryan

Gambling has moved from entertainment to a necessity for those in financial distress, says Jaco van Jaarsveldt, head of commercial strategy and innovation at Experian.

"While all consumers remain under financial distress, consumers that partake in gambling activity exhibit higher levels of financial distress than those that do not partake in gambling activities," Van Jaarsveldt said.

With access to 55 million consumer records, Experian has deep insights into spending patterns and levels of financial distress in SA.

This, overlain with about 800 000 transactional records from Vault22, gives us perhaps the best picture yet of SA's out-of-control gambling problem.

There is a clear correlation between gambling activity and financial distress.

One group that can scarcely afford gambling - those that have just enough to cover the basic necessities - have shown a massive increase in financial distress levels. On average, they can spend up to 40% of their gross income on gambling each month.

Some categories are using up to half of their South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) grants on bets.

The same is true of the middle market segment, which spends 38-50% of income on gambling - 30% more than on groceries.