Social class and leisure during recent recessions in Britain

Roberts, Ken

doi:10.1080/02614367.2013.855939

Cited by 20 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Nevertheless, for the smaller sample using personal income, sports expenditure is negatively influenced by watching TV (TV_2/TV_3) and cultural activities. The negative effect for TV viewing has previously been already (Dawson and Downward, 2013; and Roberts (2015) states that lower socio-economic strata spend less money on all leisure categories except watching television. The findings for cultural activities are less obvious however.…”

Section: Log_income_persmentioning

confidence: 90%

Financial barriers for sports consumption: the dynamics of the income–expenditure relation

Thibaut

Eakins

Willem

et al. 2020

SBM

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PurposeFirst, the income elasticities are calculated for different levels of income, for both the decision to spend money on sports and the amount of money that is spent. Second, the study researches whether different operationalisations of income (i.e. family versus personal) result in different elasticity values. Third, the effect of sports-specific and non-sports leisure variables on sports participation is investigated.Design/methodology/approachA representative dataset of 3,775 adults is used containing a wide variety of leisure characteristics, gathered by means of a face-to-face survey. By means of a Tobit regression model both the determining factors of sports expenditure and the income elasticities are analysed.FindingsFor lower income individuals, a rise in income has a relatively bigger influence on the probability to spend money on sports participation, than is the case for higher income individuals. A positive relationship is found with sex (male), education, number of minutes and disciplines of sports and membership of a socio-cultural organisation, while age, watching TV and attending cultural events have a negative effect.Social implicationsThe study provides evidence that income-based segmentation of sports participants could turn out to be an efficient policy tool. By lowering the monetary-burden for lower incomes, it can be expected that participation rates can be raised efficiently.Originality/valueFor the first time the relationship between income and expenditure is explored for different levels of income and for two operationalisations of income. Moreover, the inclusion of non-sports leisure variables allows investigating relationships between sports consumption and other leisure activities.

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Section: Log_income_persmentioning

confidence: 90%

Financial barriers for sports consumption: the dynamics of the income–expenditure relation

Thibaut

Eakins

Willem

et al. 2020

SBM

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“…While these patterns continue today (e.g. ABS, 2011;Roberts, 2013;Sport England, 2013), in more recent times, partly as a result of the New Labour agenda in Britain in the period 1997-2010, academic and policy considerations of inequality have tended to concentrate on the idea of social exclusion/ inclusion, related to such factors as ethnicity, gender and disability, rather than income/class (e.g. Belfiore, 2002;Coalter, 2013;Collins, 2003;Liu, 2009;Lusted, 2013;Sport England, 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Leisure, income inequality and the Veblen effect: cross-national analysis of leisure time and sport and cultural activity

Veal

2015

Leisure Studies

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This paper was prompted by the publication in Britain in 2009 of The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always do Better, by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, which attracted considerable comment, both positive and negative and both substantive and methodological. The book claimed to show that, on a range of health and social measures of well-being, rich countries with more equal income distributions tended to perform better than those with less equal income distributions. Leisure time and behaviour were not among the indicators of well-being included and, while some researchers have sought to fill this gap, the range of leisure indicators used to date has been limited. This paper examines the relationship between income inequality and leisure time on a world-wide basis, and ten measures of cultural participation and two of sport and physical recreation participation in European countries. Efforts are made to address some of the methodological criticisms which have been made of The Spirit Level. It is found that more equal countries have more leisure time and higher levels of participation in cultural and sporting activities, and that there are also significant relationships with absolute Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per head and with religious-related values. The extent to which variations in leisure time and participation are related to income inequality is linked to Thorstein Veblen's theory of pecuniary emulation, referred to as the 'Veblen effect'.

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“…It is possible that we will be surprised by the ingenuity of the disadvantaged in maintaining normal working class uses of leisure. Participation rates in sport and other leisure activities have not dipped during any recession in Britain since the 1970s (Roberts 2015). Most leisure activities can be practised with different levels of expenditure.…”

Section: Security: Jobs and Moneymentioning

confidence: 99%

A Future for UK Leisure Studies: Back to Work

Roberts

2018

Int J Sociol Leis

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The work-leisure relationship was the pivotal issue from the 1950s-1970s when the study of leisure first became a field of collective academic endeavour in North America and the UK. Since then this relationship has declined in visibility. It is now treated as just one among several sources of social divisions alongside gender, age, ethnicity, and also sexual orientations and (dis)abilities. Currently leisure studies has problems of identity, relevance and representation. This paper argues that the only secure future for the field is to return to work.

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Social class and leisure during recent recessions in Britain

Cited by 20 publications

References 14 publications

Financial barriers for sports consumption: the dynamics of the income–expenditure relation

Financial barriers for sports consumption: the dynamics of the income–expenditure relation

Leisure, income inequality and the Veblen effect: cross-national analysis of leisure time and sport and cultural activity

A Future for UK Leisure Studies: Back to Work

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