The Economics of Sport
  • Sports Economics
  • About
  • Workshop
  • Selected Publications
  • Book Reviews
  • A Primer on Gaelic Games
  • Upcoming Events
  • Media
  • Education
  • Resources & Links
  • Data

What determines child participation in sports in Ireland

10/4/2014

0 Comments

 
by Declan Jordan
Picture
The most recent edition of the Economic and Social Review (Spring 2014) contains a very interesting paper by Bryan Coughlan, Edel Doherty, Ciaran O'Neill and Brian McGuire on the relationships between minority status and social welfare status and child participation in sporting, cultural and community activities. The data comes from the Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) survey and it finds that children from minority ethnic households and from households in receipt of social welfare payments participate less in structured activities, such as sports and cultural activities. The results of their estimation is shown below in full. Here it may be interesting though to focus on the second column which shows the determinants of participation in sporting activities. The GUI states that a child participates in sport where they are a member of a sport or fitness club, such as a gym, a GAA club, a soccer club etc. This means the survey doesn't capture all sporting activities such as those through school but this is a good measure none the less of structured activity.

Some of the findings include that children of non-Catholics are less likely to participate in sport though more likely to participate in community activities. Children born outside Ireland and that have lived in Ireland for less than 6 years are less likely to play sports, as are children of unemployed parents and where English is not the primary language spoken in the household. Children of mothers with higher education levels are more likely to play sports relative to children whose mothers have completed primary education. Boys are more likely to play sports, and less likely to participate in cultural and community activities.

There are differences in the types of structured activities in which children participate whether they live in towns or villages or in Dublin or other cities. Relative to children living in the open countryside, those in towns, in County Dublin and in Dublin City are less likely to play sport (and more likely to participate in community activities). This is a little surprising for me as I would have expected the availability of sports clubs is greater in towns and in the capital. Perhaps the availability of alternatives is driving lower sports participation as the study finds higher participation in towns and in Dublin in community activities, relative to those living in the open countryside. In a previous post John Eakins, using the Household Budget Survey, showed that urban households spent more on sports participation than rural ones. There may be classification issues around urban and rural though this suggests that urban households spend more but participate less. Perhaps it shows up a weakness in the GUI question on sports participation in that it shows only whether a child was a member of a club but not how many clubs or how much activity was undertaken. In urban areas children may have greater choice and so may play more sports (with more cost).

Children in wealthier households are found to be more likely to participate in sports (and the other structured activities). This is similar to another post by John Eakins on spending by household social status. 

Picture
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013

    About

    This website was founded in July 2013.

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    American Football
    Athletics
    Baseball
    Basketball
    Behavioural Economics
    Boxing
    Broadcasting
    Competitive Balance
    Cricket
    Cycling
    Darts
    David Butler
    Declan Jordan
    Drugs
    Ed Valentine
    Epl
    Esports
    Expenditure
    F1
    Fifa World Cup
    Finances
    Funding
    Gaa
    Gaelic Games
    Gambling
    Game Theory
    Gary Burns
    Geography
    Golf
    Greyhound Racing
    Guest Posts
    Horse Racing
    Impact Studies
    John Considine
    John Eakins
    League Of Ireland
    Location
    Media
    Mls
    Mma
    Olympics
    Participation
    Paul O'Sullivan
    Premier League
    Regulation
    Research
    Robbie Butler
    Rugby
    Simpsonomics
    Snooker
    Soccer
    Spatial Analysis
    Sporting Bodies
    Stephen Brosnan
    Swimming
    Taxation
    Teaching
    Technology
    Tennis
    Transfers
    Uefa
    Ufc
    World Cup
    Wwe

Related

The website is not formally affiliated to any institution and all of the entries represent the personal views and opinions of an individual contributor. The website operates on a not-for-profit basis. For this reason we decline all advertisement opportunities. 

Contact

To contact us email sportseconomics2013@gmail.com or find us on Twitter @SportEcon.