Young people are delaying college because they are spending money on bets
The research The impact of bets on higher education, conducted by ABMES and Educa Insights, revealed that the habit of online betting is directly affecting the enrollment and retention of young people in private higher education in Brazil.
Among respondents aged 18 to 35, 14% have delayed tuition payments or dropped out of their courses due to betting expenses. Additionally, 34% state that they would need to stop betting in order to start their studies.
The amounts spent vary by social class: while in class A the average is R$ 1,210 monthly, in classes D and E the amount reaches R$ 421. It is noteworthy that there is an increase in people who allocate more than 10% of their monthly income to betting, especially among lower classes. Among young people in class A, 87% have bet at least once, while in classes D and E the rate is 57%.
The research identified that the impact of bets is more significant in the Northeast and Southeast regions, where 44% and 41% of young people, respectively, stated that betting influenced their decision to postpone their studies in the first semester of 2025. In the South and Midwest, the percentages are lower: 17% and 18%.
The projection for the first semester of 2026 indicates that 34% of nearly 2.9 million potential entrants into private institutions — approximately 986 thousand people — are at risk of not completing their enrollment due to being financially committed to betting.
The most common profile of bettors consists of men between 26 and 35 years old, workers, with children, belonging to classes C and D, and who studied in public schools. More than half (52%) of respondents bet regularly, one to three times a week, a figure that has increased compared to September 2024, when it was 42.9%.
According to Paulo Chanan, director of ABMES, the phenomenon is recent and requires greater attention from the public authorities, so that policies can be created to raise awareness among young people about the financial and social risks of the habit of betting.
