Each of these play quite a major role in society in helping people to decide whether or not to participate in sport. They can convey both positive and negative reasons which, in turn, leaves people to weigh up the pro’s and con’s for themselves and make their own decision about participating. The first thing that will be discussed is time. People today have a lot more leisure time. This is due to several reasons. One major reason is that the hours people work in today’s society have steadily decreased in recent years.
Working hours have gone down from an average of a 72 hour working week before the industrial revolution, to a typical working week of 40-45 hours by 1965, to finally an estimated 37 hours a week. This gives people in our society a lot more leisure time that is then often used to participate in a sporting activity. Another reason to this effect is that the number of paid holidays has increased. There are more bank holidays per year now which most workers will have the day off for. Also, for every so many weeks that a person works, they are entitled to a designated number of days in which they do not have to attend work yet they still get paid.
An additional factor is that the time taken to complete tasks in the home has decreased rapidly due to several labour saving devices. All these amenities help people to save time, therefore leaving them with more leisure time, in which they may choose to include themselves in sport. By being presented with more leisure time, there is a more likely chance that people will participate in sport. The fact that people today are retiring earlier than before plays quite a vital role in participation in sport.