AURORA STATE COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY
Department of Arts and Sciences
HMPE10: Leisure and Recreation Management
MODULE 2
Social Factors Promoting Leisure and Recreation
The social factors that helped bring about the growth of recreation and leisure
programs and services stemmed from a variety of causes. Some of these involved
changes in the economic structure of society or in dramatically shifting gender values
and family relationships. Others were rooted in the kinds of social expectations that
emerged as we moved from an essentially rural, agrarian society— where
government played a limited role—to a complex industrial, urban culture where
government assumed increasingly broad functions. As society moved out of the
industrial age and into and through the information age, traditional forms of
government support for public parks and recreation, participation patterns in
recreation, and types of recreation activities have altered, contracted, and expanded.
Ten of these important social trends are described briefly in the following section of
this chapter and in fuller detail in later sections.
Increase in Discretionary Time
The growth of individual discretionary time has long been considered a major
influence in the increased participation in recreation activities. Between 1900 and
1990, the growth in leisure time was steady if not spectacular. Freedom from an
agrarian economy, increased holidays, paid vacations, and shorter work weeks
combined to give people more opportunities for participation in recreation than at any
time in history. A debate about the actual availability of free time began in the early
1980s and still continues. The availability of free time is changing and may be based
on the career, income, family status, or other factors. We do know the 40-hour work
week is nonexistent for many. Manufacturing firms frequently mandate 20 or more
hours of overtime for their employees. Corporate executives, mid-level managers,
supervisors, and service employees experience a 24-7 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week)
work life. The advent of the digital age has made everyone more available. Cellular
telephones now are total communication devices with the availability of voice
communication, video, Internet access, text messaging, and more. Business travelers
use their phones until the flight attendants ask everyone to turn off their electronic
devices. Vacations no longer provide time away from work, just time away from the
office.
The availability of discretionary time is based on age, education, gender, and
the presence or absence of a disability. Children and seniors have significantly more
discretionary time than do individuals who are in the workforce. Children have less
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discretion about what they might participate in and seniors’ physical, mental or
economic condition may limit their ability to participate in recreation activities.
Professionals and those with a college education typically work fewer hours than
those in nonprofessional jobs, such as the service industry, manufacturing,
construction, and the like. Many individuals with severe disabilities have limited
opportunities to explore a range of recreation activities, but have long enforced hours
of free time.
National Affluence
The industry section on Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation (Section R)
includes five industry groups covering the activities to meet varied cultural,
entertainment and recreational interests of the general public, including live
performances, operation of museums sites, sports, gambling and recreation activities.
Establishments engaged in creative, arts and entertainment activities; libraries,
archives, museums, and other cultural activities; gambling and betting activities;
sports activities; and other amusement and recreation activities. Among these, 2,037
establishments or 49.8 percent of the total count were engaged in other amusement
and recreation activities. Establishments engaged in gambling and betting activities
with 1,384 establishments (33.9%) ranked second, followed by establishments
engaged in sports activities with 558 establishments (13.7%).
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Across regions, CALABARZON recorded the highest number of establishments
engaged in arts, entertainment, and recreation activities with 505 establishments
(12.4%). National Capital Region (NCR) and Central Luzon came next with 453
establishments (11.1%), and 386 establishments (9.4%), respectively. Autonomous
Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), with only 17 establishments or 0.4 percent of the
total, had the least number of establishments.
Commodification of Leisure
Increasingly, varied forms of leisure today are developed in complex,
expensive forms by profit-seeking businesses. More and more, giant companies such
as Time Warner, Disney and the likes have taken over control of huge corporations
that run music, television, and movie businesses. These companies also own sports
stadiums and professional teams, cruise ships, theme parks, and other leisure
operations.
Many elaborate new facilities offering varied forms of recreation are being
developed as part of this trend toward commodification. In cities, huge public fitness
centers that include aquatic areas, aerobics and dance rooms, and facilities for family
play and a host of other activities are being built—often with charges for membership
that cost several hundred dollars a year. Many other recreation centers or programs
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operated by public recreation and park agencies today require the payment of
substantial fees that exclude the poor.
Lippke (2016) shared concerns about the commercialization of leisure upon
individuals and society. Citing the concern of commercialization, he suggests
individuals “are subtly and not so subtly encouraged to indulge themselves in a
consumption binge that, temporarily at least, distracts them from the cares and
concerns of everyday life.” The problem lies not with the distraction, but with the use
of such leisure-time activities to replace what leisure theorists have called personal
development, creativity, and flow. Lippke (2016) suggests that the commercialization
of leisure promotes a lack of self-development, an increase in the inability of persons
to direct their own lives as they become dependent on external stimulators.
Commercialization of recreation has created a competition for everyone to have the
same things, or what one author called, “sneer group pressure.” Look at the cell phone
marketplace as an example. The ever-increasing “all-in-one” cell phone has captured
the market as youth in particular desire the newest and coolest. Finally, there is a
confusion about values and what is important. Advertisers and sellers of
commercialization create expectations among potential buyers about believing life
should be “filled with glamorous, exciting, or dramatic moments”.
Population Trends
The current population in the Philippines is about 110 million people. The
annual population growth rate has decreased significantly since 1960 where it was
3.3% to now where it is about 1.3% (PSA, 2021). The steady growth in the population
and diversity has increasing impacts on recreation demand and participation.
Another marked influence on leisure programs has been the dramatic
diversification, in racial and ethnic terms. In American context, a result of growing
waves of immigrants from Asia, Latin America, and some third-world regions, often
with markedly higher birth rates, the nation’s identity as a primarily white society
based heavily on northern European and English traditions is rapidly shifting.
Hispanics are now the largest minority in the United States, surpassing African
Americans in the 2000 census. The two largest growth minorities in terms of
percentage of growth between 1990 and 2000 were Hispanics and Asians.
The aging of Americans has significant implications for recreation participation
and delivery. By 2011, the first baby-boomers will be ready for retirement and by 2025,
there will be twice as many people over 65 as there will be teenagers. By one
estimate, the United States will need 31,000 geriatricians, compared to the 1,000
present in 2004.5 This population represents the most financially independent aging
group in history. The 55-plus age group controls more than 75 percent of the country’s
wealth. This group utilizes their financial resources to remain involved; to engage in
travel, sport, and active leisure; and to continue their involvement in family and
society. The new aging population cannot be considered “seniors.” Programs of
previous generations of seniors will not work with the new generation. They are
already more active, have a more mobile lifestyle, are healthier, have a longer life
expectancy, and use technology as a compensation for particular deficiencies, and
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will do so even more in the future. They are as diverse as any group in society and are
changing the way recreation is considered for an aging population.
Where People Live: Rural and Urban
History has recorded the decline of rural populations, the growth of cities and
industrialization, the growth of suburbs and exurbs, the decline of the inner city, and
the simultaneous revitalization of cities and urban areas.
Recreation and park development has been seen as a key factor in promoting
the revival of many larger cities, as the wealthy and young professionals have moved
into newly rehabilitated or developed residential areas (the process has become
known as gentrification). Rundown waterfront or factory areas have been transformed
into attractive sites for shopping, sightseeing, cultural activities, and entertainment.
Recreation has been stressed as critical to making cities more livable, attracting
tourists, and retaining middle-class and wealthy residents. In numerous other
communities, public recreation and park departments have constructed new water-
play parks, tennis complexes, creative arts centers, marinas, and other recreational
facilities.
Within each of these population shifts, recreation and leisure play an important
role. Many individuals and families place high value on the recreational and cultural
opportunities that are available in communities that they are considering moving to,
and large corporations regard this factor as an important element with respect to staff
recruitment and retention.
Influence Of Technology
Over the past several decades, sophisticated technology has played a key role
in providing new forms of recreation. Outdoor recreation, for example, makes use of
increasingly complex and expensive devices in such activities as skydiving, hang
gliding, scuba diving, boating, hunting, fishing, and rollerblading. Computer dating
provides a new form of social contact for single adults, and video games offer
interactive competition or exposure to new varieties of play settings and virtual
realities.
The use of computers and technology, the growth of the Internet, and the
availability of instant voice and data communications have become an integral part of
travel and tourism, with airlines, cruise ships, resorts, and major parks maintaining
Web pages that provide information and expand reservations and vacation choices.
Within every aspect of professional recreation, park, and leisure-service
management, computer software has become indispensable in program planning,
scheduling, public relations, fiscal and personnel management, and maintaining
agency information systems. Home-based recreation has become increasingly
dependent on varied forms of electronic entertainment, with television, interactive
video games, CD-ROMs, cassette players, and similar devices. Some have speculated
that reliance on such gadgetry has become an obsession for many individuals, with
retreat into a virtual reality, “cyberworld” environment taking the place of face-to-face
social contact with other humans.
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Recreation’s Contribution To Health & Fitness
A key trend continuing in our society is public interest in exercise and physical
fitness programs. Realizing that modern life is frequently inactive, sedentary, beset by
tensions, and subject to a host of unhealthy habits such as overeating, smoking, and
drinking, popular concern developed about improving one’s health, vitality, and
appearance through diet and exercise.
Participation in such activities as walking, aerobics, swimming, running and
jogging, racquet sports, and similar vigorous pursuits has more than physiological
effects. It also has psychological value; those who exercise regularly look and feel
better. Experts have concluded that fitness is not a passing phase; the public’s desire
to be healthy and physically attractive is supported by continuing publicity, social
values, personal vanity, and solid business sense.
Environmental Concerns
The Philippines is rich in natural resources. Despite being in a relatively small
country, Philippines is surrounded by all kinds of land formations and natural water
resources. Its natural environment has so much to offer, whether on land, on water or
even in air. It hosts varied outdoor recreational activities. Outdoor recreational
activities such as camping, biking, backpacking, boating, hunting, fishing, and
mountain climbing depend heavily on parks, forests, and water areas. However, the
concern of many people regarding the health of the nation’s outdoor resources stems
from more than the need for outdoor recreation spaces.
For such reasons, the environmental movement receives strong support from
many recreation advocates and organizations. At the same time, it is recognized that
such activities as fishing and hunting are just part of a bigger scene that requires
clean—and safe—air and water and wise use of the land.
It has been established that outdoor recreation is an interaction between man
and nature. The interaction should come with care and respect. It is important that in
using and enjoying what nature offers, an equal responsibility in conserving and
preserving it must be consciously employed by the people.
The Changing Family
Over the last 30 years, families have changed more than in the previous 200
years. The era of the stay-at-home mother, the single-income source, three or more
children, family dinners, church on Sunday, and marriage as a lifetime commitment is
disappearing. The challenge for recreation and family service agencies is to
determine how to serve the new permeable family. Traditional after-school programs
may no longer work when mothers expect to pick children up later in the day. Many
agencies have gone to extended after-school programs, frequently partnering with
schools to mix tutoring and leisure.
Maturation of Organized Leisure-Service Field
Public park and recreation agencies have, of necessity, become
entrepreneurial. Where few fees once existed, now public agencies are dependent
on fees and charges to make up as much as 90 percent of their operating budget.
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Parks and recreation agencies are hard pressed to serve all of those who either desire
or have a need for services. Nonprofit and commercial agencies fill the gap in many
instances. In today’s rapidly changing demand for different types of leisure activities,
public, commercial, and nonprofit organizations strive to respond, but often public
and nonprofits do not have the resources, financial capital, or ability to respond.
Commercial enterprises typically respond more quickly to what initially may appear
as fringe activities such as paintball, skateboarding, laser tag, and the like.
Maturation does not suggest the organized leisure-services field is not
changing, but rather that growth in the public and nonprofit sector is constrained by
available funds, politics, public interest, and the perceived opportunity for growth.
Public and nonprofit agencies have developed an infrastructure of parks, recreation
centers, sports fields, cultural centers, and others that become a burden to the
agencies to rapidly change. The traditional programming of public and nonprofit
agencies remains in place, although there is less of it, and more of the emerging
programs, but change is coming slowly.
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