Gambling Wins in Lifestyle Poll

Whether it be lucky numbers, one-armed bandits, dogs or horses that tickle the fancy, most people in England have had a flutter or two over the past year, an ICM poll for the Guardian reveals today.

A snapshot of English life in 2003 shows that we are a nation of gamblers with 65% of those interviewed admitting to trying their luck on the lottery at least once since last August, 38% of participants confirming they had taken part in a raffle in that time, and 17% confessing to betting on a horse within the past year.

The lottery was found to be the most popular punt among all social classes ranging from 54% of ABs to 75% of C2s, according to the Guardian/ICM lifestyle survey.

Less popular among those in the AB bracket was bingo, which attracted 4% compared with 17% of DEs. Conversely, twice the number of ABs (6%) chose to take their chances on the dogs as DEs (3%).

The popularity of the football pools, which in the 1950s attracted at least 47% of the population, had declined to 6% of the 1001 respondents claiming to have played in the previous year.

Despite the increased access to the internet and the availability of casinos and bookmakers on the worldwide web, just 2% of people chose to gamble online.

The survey looked at everyday habits in people's homes and found that more than half had indulged in DIY over the past four weeks with those in the AB group leading the home improvement drive. More than 61% in this category chose DIY to pass the time compared with 42% in the DE bracket.

A huge 78% were found to have cooked a meal for pleasure in the past month and 75% of those interviewed said they had sat down for a family meal in that time. This was more common in the AB bracket (83%) than in the DE category (65%).

The survey found that older age groups did more gardening, but an overall 70% had indulged in it at some point in the last four weeks.

The love affair with television continues, with 95% of all respondents watching at least once in four weeks with equal numbers of men and women tuning in. DVDs and videos were also found to be a popular choice, particularly with 18- to 24-year-olds, 89% of whom had watched at least one. Just 47% of those over 65 and 58% of 35- to 64-year-olds had watched a video or DVD in the past month.

Knitting proved less of a hit, declining from 41% of adults trying it at least once in 1951, to 15% these days.

ICM interviewed a random sample of 1,001 adults aged 18+ by telephone between 15-17 August 2003. Interviews were conducted across the country and the results have been weighted to the profile of all adults.