Buenos Aires, Argentina – The capital of Buenos Aires is experiencing scorching temperatures of 35 degrees Celsius (95 Fahrenheit) as December arrives.
The sun beats down mercilessly on the metal roofs of Villa Fiorito, a neighbourhood in the south of Argentina’s capital.
Teenagers on motorcycles zip through the dusty streets in flip-flops. Other kids seek out shady spots to relax and cool off by rinsing their feet with a garden hose.
Carla G, who wishes to remain anonymous, is one of the teenagers in the neighbourhood. At 18 years old, she is nearing the end of her high school education. Playing football with her friends at the neighbourhood sports club used to be one of her favorite activities, not far from where legendary player Diego Maradona grew up.
But in June of last year, she became involved in online gambling, joining a trend among teenagers and young adults in Argentina.
A report published by the city of Buenos Aires in October found that nearly a quarter of local students aged 12 to 19 had engaged in online gambling. The main motivation cited was the need for quick cash, especially as poverty rates continue to rise in Argentina.
Regulating online gambling has become a contentious issue, particularly under the presidency of staunch free-market libertarian Javier Milei.
Carla’s tale
For Carla, the adrenaline rush and the desire to help her family escape poverty led her to online gambling.
Living with her older sister Mayra, 26, and her six-year-old nephew, the family relies on Mayra’s income to make ends meet. However, when Mayra lost her job at a used furniture store in April, she turned to washing neighbors’ linens for cash.
Struggling to pay the bills, Carla replaced her football practices with hours spent in her room, working as a cashier at a virtual casino.
Recruited by a friend, Carla found herself caught in an online Ponzi scheme, where cashiers had to recruit new players to cover their debts. Feeling pressured to attract new gamblers, Carla eventually left the job in November.
Meanwhile, Mayra continued working as a cashier on an illegal gambling platform, spending hours on gambling apps and losing money that should have been used for food.
An option to poverty
In Tandil, a small agricultural town in Buenos Aires province, history teacher Eugenia Erreguerena noticed a rise in gambling during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Isolating to prevent the spread of the virus, her students turned to digital spaces for socializing. For them, playing video games and gambling online became intertwined.
Erreguerena observed that boys in her class were more likely to gamble, with 34 percent of teenage boys placing bets online compared to 13 percent of girls, according to the ombudsman’s survey.
Experts attribute the growth in online betting to economic instability in Argentina, with skyrocketing inflation and foreign debt weighing the country down.
President Milei’s austerity measures have aimed to curb inflation and boost the economy, but poverty rates have continued to rise, pushing young people towards online gambling as a way out.
