Lower-income parents are less likely than their higher-income
counterparts to involve their children in youth sports because of
obstacles such as rising costs of these extracurricular
activities, according to a new RAND Corporation study.
Researchers surveyed a pool of approximately 2,800 parents,
public school administrators and community sports program leaders
and found that financial costs and time commitments were barriers
to sports participation for middle and high school youths.
Of those surveyed, 52% of parents from lower-income families
reported that their children in grade 6–12 participated in
sports, as compared to 66% of middle- and higher-income families.
(Middle- and higher-income families had an annual household
income of $50,000 or more.)
Though costs for sports activities have increased in the past
five years, about 63% of public school administrators indicated
that school funding for sports has either remained flat or is
decreasing. As for why parents didn't involve their children in
sports, about 35% of all families cited financial costs as a
reason, while 42% of lower-income families reported the same.
“Most survey participants thought youth sports participation
provided physical health, social and emotional, and academic
benefits,” said Anamarie Whitaker,
lead author of the report and a policy researcher at RAND, a
nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization. “However, the
increasing costs for such activities are often passed along to
families, which has become more burdensome for those who are
lower-income.”
Researchers recommend that community-based organizations help
reduce out-of-pocket costs for low-income families to increase
their children's participation in sports. Providing equipment and
transportation, while also minimizing parent time commitments,
may have the greatest effect on increasing sports participation
among youths from lower-income families, the study also noted.
The report, which was commissioned by The DICK'S Sporting Goods
Foundation, was subjected to RAND's rigorous research quality
assurance process, which includes an independent peer review.
Other authors of the report are Garrett Baker, Luke Matthews, Jennifer S.
McCombs , and Mark Barrett. The research was conducted
in RAND Education and
Labor, a division of RAND, which conducts rigorous, objective
research to help decisionmakers and practitioners find solutions
to education and labor market challenges.
