Women’s Gambling Addiction Is Rising in the US, and Pennsylvania Is Seeing the Sharpest Pressure

Online gambling has broadened the market, and the addiction caseload is changing with it. Bloomberg Law, the American Gaming Association, and therapists quoted by Axios all point to a rising share of women among problem gamblers — a shift that matters for PSPs, sportsbooks, and anyone underwriting the higher-risk end of the payments stack.

1. According to a recent Bloomberg Law analysis, women accounted for roughly one-quarter of bankruptcy filings last year that named some of the nation’s largest online sportsbooks as creditors. That is not a small edge case; it is a payments and collections signal that problem gambling is showing up in the credit system as well as in treatment rooms.
2. In a separate study by the American Gaming Association, women accounted for 35% of online sports bettors, up from 26% in 2022. The thing to watch here is the gap between participation and prior stereotypes: gambling participation rates among men and women are now nearly identical, some experts say.
3. Research also suggests that women who begin gambling later in life may progress to problem gambling more quickly than men, a pattern often referred to as the “telescoping effect.” For operators and PSPs, that means acquisition and risk signals may develop faster than the older playbook assumes.
4. Jennifer Levitt, a Philadelphia-area therapist who specializes in gambling addiction, told Axios that she is increasingly treating career women, new mothers and younger women who do not fit the traditional image of an older woman at slot machines, bingo tables, or buying lottery tickets. She said women now make up about one-third of her clients, up sharply from just a few years ago.
5. Pennsylvania appears to be under particular strain. Among women calling Pennsylvania’s problem gambling hotline, those ages 45 to 54 accounted for the highest number of calls, according to the Council on Compulsive Gambling of Pennsylvania. Josh Ercole, the council’s executive director, also said women are increasingly reporting problems with online slots rather than traditional casino slot machines, and that prediction markets can draw people in by letting them wager on topics they already follow and care about.

The pressure point for the industry is obvious enough: as gambling shifts online, the profile of at-risk users is shifting too. That shows up in bankruptcy filings, hotline traffic, and the tactics named in lawsuits — including microbets, promotions, push notifications, and VIP perks in a recent Philadelphia case against FanDuel and DraftKings.