Study Guide

The link between economic development and participation in leisure activities
• Detailed examples to illustrate recent changes in participation for two or more societies at contrasting stages of development

Why would we expect a link between economic development and participation in leisure activities?

1. Greater wealth = more leisure time?

​Study the graph below from the Washington Post.
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Washington Post 19 February 2016https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/02/19/richer-countries-have-more-leisure-time-with-one-big-exception/?utm_term=.b18febe1868c
  1. Describe the pattern shown in the graph.
  2. What are the implications of this pattern for the amount of time that people will be able to spend on participation in leisure activities?
  3. Which country is anomalous? Suggest reasons BEFORE reading the article.
  4. Read the article:
    1. What is the main point it makes about the relationship between economic and leisure?
    2. Why is the pattern not always straightforward?


The graph, right, shows average hours of leisure time in the US by gender, education and income.

Describe the patterns shown. What do they say about economic development/wealth and likely participation in leisure activities?
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Gender, Social Class, Leisure and Well-Being: Challenging Leisure as the Holy Grail Marybeth J. Mattingly, University of New Hampshire and Liana C. Sayer, Ohio State University
 

​EXTRA: read THIS article from The Atlantic magazine. Summarise what it reports on leisure time and wealth in the US. Why is this described as a "paradox"?



2. Personal and national income affects access and choice in leisure activities


  1. Scattergraph car ownership against GDP per capita.
  2. Briefly describe the pattern shown. what does it say about economic development and car ownership?
  3. Now examine the table below which shows participation in walking, cycling and sport as leisure activities for people with and without car access in the UK. 
    1. What patterns does it show?
    2. Explain possible reasons for these patterns?
    3. Why do you think that car owners are more likely to walk or cycle for leisure purposes?
    4. In what other ways will GDP affect people's ability to make choices about their leisure activities?
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Adult participation in sport Analysis of the Taking Part Survey Helen Jones, Peter Millward (Knight, Kavanagh and Page) and Babatunde Buraimo (University Of Central Lancashire) August 2011
4. Examine the leisure activities below. In pairs, choose four and explain how people's likelihood of participating will be influenced by the level of economic development of their home country and by personal wealth.

5. Describe and explain the patterns shown in the graph on the right which shows participation in sport in the US.
​
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https://www.aspeninstitute.org/blog-posts/7-charts-that-show-the-state-of-youth-sports-in-the-us-and-why-it-matters/
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https://inequalitiesblog.wordpress.com/2011/07/07/leisure-inequality-%E2%80%93-what-do-the-poor-and-non-poor-do-for-fun/amp/

The graph on the left is based upon questions about leisure activities asked of adult respondents to the United States general social survey (GSS) since the 1990s.
  1. What does it suggest about overall participation in most leisure activities by wealth?
  2. Which leisure activity is more likely to be done by "poor" than "non-poor"? Suggest reasons?

EXTRA: read the blogpost on the right (remember - it is a blog post so just one person's opinion). Consider:
  • Do you agree with the views of the writer?
  • What negative stereotypes can you find in the post? Is it possible that stereotypes might affect people's leisure choices?
  • To what extent do you agree that our leisure choices are influenced or even governed by socio-economic factors?
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3. Other socio-economic factors

 The diagram below shows some suggested factors affecting demand for tourism. Examine them carefully and establish which you believe are:
  1. Directly caused by the level of economic development of a country or region.
  2. Indirectly caused by level of economic development.
  3. Connected to personal wealth and status.
  4. Unconnected to economic factors.
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The determinants of tourism demand by Uysaal, M. (Chapter in "The Economic Development of the Tourism Industry: a supply side analysis" ed Ionnides & Debbage. Routlege, 1998.https://www.academia.edu/8602157/The_determinants_of_tourism_demand

Example 1: Tourism growth and development in China 

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https://seekingalpha.com/article/3962028-chinas-outbound-tourism-boom-invest
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Economist Special Edition, May 2018 https://www.economist.com/special-report/2018/05/19/chinas-insatiable-appetite-for-foreign-travel
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Daily Express 7 December 2016