A new survey offers a troubling look at how some younger Americans are approaching gambling, trading and other high risk financial activities while dealing with debt.
Research conducted by Wakefield Research for National Debt Relief found that 65% of Gen Z respondents who regularly participate in activities such as sports betting, casino gambling, prediction markets, fantasy sports, day trading or the lottery said they have used those activities in an attempt to pay off debt.
The number falls with age. Among regular participants, 49% of millennials said they had participated in these activities in an attempt to pay off debt, compared with 39% of Gen X and 19% of baby boomers.
The finding does not mean that 65% of Gen Z is gambling to pay bills, and that distinction matters. It also does not mean that every respondent included in that figure was gambling. The survey grouped several activities together, ranging from casino gambling and sports betting to day trading. Still, the results point to a broader change in how some younger consumers appear to view financial risk.
Gambling Is Becoming Part of a Bigger Financial Risk Market
Online gambling has expanded rapidly in the United States over the past several years. Sports betting is now available across much of the country, online casinos operate legally in a smaller group of states, and prediction markets have created another way for consumers to put money behind the outcome of sporting events and other real world events.
At the same time, those products increasingly sit alongside other forms of financial speculation on the same phones younger consumers use to manage their bank accounts, investments and credit cards. The distinction between entertainment, gambling and investing can look considerably less clear when all of those activities involve putting money at risk in hopes of generating a return.
The National Debt Relief survey appears to capture part of that shift. It found that 62% of millennials regularly participate in at least one activity that included sports betting, casino gambling, fantasy sports, prediction markets, day trading or the lottery. Among Gen Z, the figure was 45%.
What stands out is not simply that younger adults are participating. It is why some of them say they are doing it. Gambling is traditionally supposed to be entertainment where losing money is an understood possibility. Once someone begins betting because they need the winnings to solve an existing financial problem, that relationship changes considerably.
Debt Is Already Widespread Among Younger Americans
The gambling numbers become more significant when viewed alongside the rest of the survey.
National Debt Relief found that 87% of millennials and 77% of Gen Z respondents currently carry some form of debt. Unsecured debt was also widespread, affecting 73% of millennials and 60% of Gen Z respondents, with credit cards the most commonly reported source.
More than a third of millennials with unsecured debt reported owing at least $7,500, while 27% of Gen Z respondents with unsecured debt reported balances at or above that level. The survey also found that 46% of millennials and 33% of Gen Z respondents said they do not believe a debt free life is realistic for them.
That creates a potentially dangerous combination. Someone who already believes getting out of debt through ordinary income and repayment is unrealistic may be more willing to look for a faster solution. A sportsbook, online casino, prediction market or trading platform can offer the possibility of turning a relatively small amount of money into something larger, even though there is also a very real possibility of losing it.
Betting Is Not a Debt Repayment Strategy
There is an important limitation to the survey. It shows what respondents say they have done, but it does not prove that debt itself caused them to gamble or take other financial risks. It also combines several very different activities into the same question, so the results should not be interpreted as a measurement of casino or sports betting behavior alone.
Even with those limitations, the underlying behavior is worth paying attention to. Gambling becomes substantially riskier when the money being wagered is viewed as a possible solution to an existing financial problem. A losing bet can leave the person further behind, which can create pressure to place another bet in an attempt to recover the loss.
The same basic problem can apply regardless of whether the wager happens at a casino, sportsbook or through another speculative product. The expected outcome becomes part of someone’s financial plan rather than entertainment spending they can afford to lose.
That is especially important as gambling products become easier to access. Depositing money no longer requires a trip to a casino or sportsbook. For many consumers, placing a bet can take seconds from a phone, and another wager is immediately available after the first one settles.
The Survey Is Bigger Than Gambling
One reason this research is particularly interesting is that gambling was only part of a much broader look at how younger Americans are dealing with financial pressure.
The survey found that 69% of millennials and 64% of Gen Z respondents have used artificial intelligence for advice about a financial challenge. It also found that 65% of millennials and 53% of Gen Z would feel more comfortable discussing financial struggles with AI than with people close to them.
Those findings point in the same general direction as the gambling data. Younger consumers have access to financial tools and products that previous generations did not have, and they appear increasingly willing to use technology when traditional approaches to money do not seem to be working.
That does not make gambling, prediction markets, day trading and AI financial advice equivalent. They involve very different products and risks. What connects them in this survey is the willingness of younger Americans to look outside traditional financial channels when dealing with financial stress.
The 65% Number Needs Context
The headline number is striking, but it would be easy to misuse it. National Debt Relief’s survey does not show that 65% of Gen Z Americans gamble to pay off debt. It found that 65% of Gen Z respondents who regularly participate in a group of activities including gambling, prediction markets, fantasy sports, lotteries and day trading have participated in those activities in an attempt to pay off debt.
The survey was conducted online by Wakefield Research among 2,000 nationally representative U.S. adults aged 18 and older. It included 550 millennials and used additional interviews to bring the Gen Z sample to 500 respondents.
That qualification makes the number less sensational than simply saying two thirds of Gen Z is gambling to escape debt, but it also makes the finding more useful. The issue is not that an entire generation has suddenly turned to casinos to pay its bills. It is that among younger people already participating in gambling and other speculative activities, a significant share says paying off debt is part of the motivation.
For the gambling industry, that is a distinction worth watching. Betting has become easier, faster and more mainstream in the United States. If a growing group of consumers begins looking at those products as a possible way to solve financial problems, responsible gambling discussions may need to focus not only on how much people are betting, but also on why they are betting in the first place.
Last Updated: 2 days ago
