Slot Machines Moving In as Businesses Close
According to a recent article in the UK based Guardian newspaper slot machines and gambling arcades are proliferating across the UK. The dismal economy has forced many shops and businesses to close and in many cases shops are replaced by gaming arcades. A major study of where slot machines (also known as fruit machines in the UK) are located revealed that areas with high unemployment and dominated by low socio economic groups tend to have the most slot machines. Affected areas include the Welsh Valleys, Yorkshire towns such as Barnsley and Halifax, and urban areas near Glasgow Scotland, such as Airdrie and Stirling. Slot machines have also proliferated in areas where the population is aged between 16 and 35 or are over 75 years old. Seaside towns such as Brighton and Bournemouth have also seen an increase in the number of slot machines available to punters.
The recent study, by the National Centre of Social Research, also shows that affluent areas such as Altrincham near Manchester and the shopping areas of new towns such as Milton Keynes and Peterborough are now hosting “high-density machine zones” with one slot machine for every hectare, an area about the size of a Rugby field. Researchers have suggested that the phenomenon is caused by the closure of shops and leisure outlets. In these areas there is still a demand for entertainment and gaming operators are taking advantage of the new opportunities. Heather Wardle, director of research at the National Centre of Social Research stated “There are clusters of high-density machine zones and in those areas people are more likely to be economically inactive, in lower, manual occupations and from low-income families. But the pattern is more complicated than that. It is not uniform. These high-density areas are not only in poor neighborhoods. There are relatively affluent areas with a high density of machines. Altrincham is a relatively wealthy area but has a high density of machines, and you think, why is that? And it could be because of a lack of other leisure and recreation types on offer in that area. We know Altrincham town centre had one of the highest rates of retail vacancies in 2010.”
Last week shadow culture secretary Harriet Harman accused betting and gaming firms of deliberately opening new branches in impoverished areas pushing families further down the economic scale and creating a link between dependence on government benefits and gambling. Harman called for stricter rules on “evil” high stakes slot games which had created a “casino on every high street.” The Labour government wants new powers to stop new gaming shops from opening. The Association of British Bookmakers countered by saying that there is no link that poverty is exacerbated by gambling.
