Social Capital and Sport in the UK Evidence From National and International Survey Data: April 19 th, 2005. Liam Delaney Economic and Social Research Institute.

Social Capital and Sport in Social Capital and Sport in the UKthe UK

Evidence From National and International Survey Data:

April 19th, 2005.

Liam Delaney

Economic and Social Research Institute

Simple MessageSimple Message

“The existing data paints a convincing picture of correlations between participation in sports activities and high levels of social capital. The next step for researchers and policy makers is to determine to what extent the causality is running from one to the other. It is almost certainly two way, but we cannot tell the extent from the existing evidence”.

IntroductionIntroductionSocial capital is an increasingly important

concept in national policy making.Increasing attention being paid to the role of

sport in civil and community life. Also an increasing emphasis on quantifying

the role and value of the sports sector.This report examines survey data.Delaney (2005) examines cultural

participation and social capital.

Scope of ReportScope of Report

“Sport means all forms of physical activity which through casual or organised participation, aim at expressing or improving physical fitness and mental well being, forming social relationships or obtaining results in competition at all levels”.

European Sports Charter, 1993 Focuses on participation in sports and physical

activity that fall under the DCMS remit.

Existing Literature on the Existing Literature on the Role of SportRole of Sport

Huge literature on the economic significance of the cultural, heritage and sporting sectors.

Large and growing literature on the physical and health benefits of sport.

Recent emphasis on social benefits of sport. See Daly (2004) for a comprehensive review of

social capital studies. See paper for a review of other sports studies.

Civil Renewal/Social CapitalCivil Renewal/Social Capital

A number of diverse theoretical positions.This presentation considers the broadest and

utilises measures across different theoretical streams.

Social trust, trust in institutions, subjective well-being, civic membership, informal group activity, political activity.

Disentangling social capital and civil renewal.

Types of Social Capital Derived Types of Social Capital Derived From SportFrom Sport

Individual.– Sport may provide a basis for an individual to form a friendship base,

provide goals and foster well being.– Sport may absorb pro-social motivations and utilise the talents of diverse

individuals. Local/community.

– Sport may provide a basis for the building of local networks.– Through interacting with children’s sports, parents networks may form

which have potentially beneficial effects.– Sport may provide a basis for bringing different sections of communities

together. National.

– Sport may provide a basis for common shared norms and conversational points as well as providing a basis for collective memory.

– Sport can act to transmit pro-social values such as fairness and rule following.

– Sport may act as a vehicle for citizens to engage with other countries.

A Cost-benefit Should Also A Cost-benefit Should Also Include CostsInclude Costs

Problem: we cannot simply assume that Net Benefit is increasing in the level of sports membership, attendance and playing.

Net Benefit = Benefits(individual benefits, indirect individual benefits, external benefits) – Costs (individual costs, external costs).

Bridging and bonding social capital.– Sports may also generate socially negative effects.

Social liability.

Empirical QuestionsEmpirical Questions Does Britain have a “social capital deficit” when

compared to other EU countries? What are the patterns of social capital and civil

engagement within britain? What are the patterns of sporting participation

within britain? To what extent are these patterns linked? At one level, they are linked tautologically in that

sporting membership/volunteering is arguably a form of social capital but we are also asking about the links with other forms of social capital.

Data UtilisedData Utilised

European Social Survey 2002.British Social Attitudes Survey 1984-2002.Time Usage Survey 2000.Home Office Citizenship Survey 2001.

Britain Has Below Average Britain Has Below Average Levels of Social TrustLevels of Social TrustTrust in Institutions Among EU Citizens

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Denm

ark

Fin

land

Norw

ay

Sw

eden

Sw

itzerland

Luxem

bourg

Italy

Neth

erlands

Gre

ece

Tota

l

Irela

nd

Hungary

Austr

ia

Germ

any

Belg

ium

Isra

el

United K

ingdom

Spain

Port

ugal

Slo

venia

Czech R

epublic

Pola

nd

UN

EU Parliament

Politicians

Police

Law

Parliament

And Average Levels of Individual And Average Levels of Individual TrustTrust

Individual Trust (ESS 2002)

0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0

Poland

Hungary

Greece

Czech Republic

Portugal

Slovenia

Italy

Israel

Germany

Spain

Total

United Kingdom

Belgium

Austria

Luxembourg

Ireland

Netherlands

Sw itzerland

Sw eden

Finland

Norw ay

Denmark

People can be trusted

People try to be fair

People Helpful

Satisfied with Life

Satisfied withdemocracy

Happy

Socialise

Health

Safety

Men Are More Likely to Take Part in Sport Than Women, Men Are More Likely to Take Part in Sport Than Women, Although Sport Is Still One of the Most Prevalent Forms of Although Sport Is Still One of the Most Prevalent Forms of

Activity for Both SexesActivity for Both Sexes Gender

Male Female Sports / exercise (taking part, coaching or going to watch) 31.68 22.09 Religion 23.29 25.62 Hobbies / Recreation / Arts/ Social clubs 21.61 16.40 Children's education/ schools 11.35 18.93 Local community or neighbourhood groups 10.83 10.45 Education for adults 9.47 12.80 Youth / children's activities (outside school) 9.37 9.33 Health, Disability and Social welfare 6.85 10.82 Trade union activity 6.75 3.95 The environment, animals 6.36 7.03 The elderly 4.72 7.23 Safety, First Aid 3.94 4.80 Citizen's Groups 2.93 2.79 Politics 2.85 1.56 Justice and Human Rights 2.62 2.65 Don't Know 0.15 0.09 None of these 36.65 38.56

Walking is the most popular type of activityWalking is the most popular type of activity

% MeanWALKING/ HIKING (RECREATIONAL) FOR 2 MILES OR MORE? 22.64 8.72

SWIMMING OR DIVING INDOORS? 19.07 3.84

CYCLING? 14.94 8.67

KEEPFIT, AEROBICS, YOGA, DANCE EXERCISE, EXERCISE BIKE ? 14.93 7.35

SNOOKER, POOL, BILLIARDS (EXCL BAR BILLIARS)? 11.19 4.5

FOOTBALL OUTDOORS (INCL 5-A-SIDE)? 8.95 6.73

JOGGING, CROSS COUNTRY, ROAD RUNNING? 6.37 5.69

GOLF, PITCH & PUTT, PUTTING, (EXCL CRAZY GOLF)? 5.62 3.69

WEIGHT TRAINING (INCL BODY BUILDING)? 5.29 8.5

TENPIN BOWLING? 4.74 1.46

TENNIS? 4.64 3.28

SWIMMING OR DIVING OUTDOORS? 4.55 6.45

FOOTBALL INDOORS (INCL 5-A-SIDE)? 4.15 3.99

DARTS? 3.75 4.59

BADMINTON? 3.59 3.1

BASKETBALL? 3.47 3.68

NETBALL? 2.98 3.64

CRICKET? 2.86 3.7

GYMNASTICS? 2.45 4.28

HOCKEY (EXCL ICE, ROLLER OR STREET - SEE 'OTHER' BELOW)? 2.35 3.27

ANGLING/ FISHING? 2.14 2.88

TABLE TENNIS? 2.08 3.44

NONE OF THESE? 36.95

Sport is the most frequent field of Sport is the most frequent field of volunteering for men volunteering for men

Male Female

Sports/Exercise 13.74 7.43 Religion 11.53 13.94 Hobbies / Recreation / Arts / Social clubs 9.08 6.50 Children's education/ schools 7.80 14.06 Youth / children's activities (outside school) 6.52 6.56 Local community or neighbourhood groups 6.00 5.56 Health, Disability and Social welfare 4.41 6.80 Education for adults 3.67 4.63 The elderly 3.33 4.93 The environment, animals 3.07 3.72 Politics 1.88 1.01 Trade union activity 1.86 1.13 Safety, First Aid 1.83 2.42 Citizen's Groups 1.63 1.58 Justice and Human Rights 1.48 1.65 ANY TYPE OF UNPAID HELP 36.34 37.67 NO UNPAID HELP GIVEN 63.51 62.22

Volunteering Takes Several Volunteering Takes Several Different FormsDifferent Forms

Male Female

Raising or handling money 14.29 10.94 Leading the group/ member of a committee 11.30 5.89 Organising or helping to run an activity or event 20.12 12.89 Visiting / befriending people 4.04 4.79 Giving advice / information / counselling 10.06 5.05 Secretarial, admin or clerical work 4.64 3.16 Providing transport / driving 13.55 8.68 Representing 5.01 2.74 Campaigning 1.84 1.53 Other practical help 7.72 8.31 Any other help 1.47 1.68 Don't Know 0.18 0.32 No help given in last 12 months 56.45 66.07 GIVEN ANY UNPAID HELP IN LAST 12 MONTHS 43.36 33.61

There are particularly strong Cross National Correlations There are particularly strong Cross National Correlations between participation in sport and trust in other people between participation in sport and trust in other people

(see Appendix 1 for Interpretation)(see Appendix 1 for Interpretation) internet sportmem sportpar culmem culpar soccmem soccpar People fair 0.9** 0.8** 0.8** 0.8** 0.7** 0.7** 0.6** 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 People help 0.9** 0.9** 0.8** 0.8** 0.7** 0.8** 0.6** 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Trust parl 0.8** 0.5** 0.3 0.5** 0.6** 0.6** 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 Trust legal 0.6** 0.3 0.1 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.1 0.0 0.3 0.6 0.1 0.3 0.2 0.5 Trust police 0.7** 0.5** 0.4 0.6** 0.4 0.5** 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.3 Trust politic 0.8** 0.7** 0.6** 0.6** 0.6** 0.7** 0.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 Sat life 0.9** 0.7** 0.6** 0.8** 0.6** 0.7** 0.5** 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Sat democ 0.7** 0.5** 0.3 0.6** 0.5** 0.6** 0.4 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 Social friends 0.7** 0.5** 0.5** 0.4 0.5** 0.4 0.5** 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.0 Unsafe -0.7** -0.5** -0.2 -0.5** -0.5** -0.4 -0.4 0.0 0.0 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1 Unhealthy -0.6** -0.5** -0.5** -0.7** -0.5** -0.6** -0.6** 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Education 0.6** 0.7** 0.7** 0.8** 0.6** 0.7** 0.7** 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

Correlations Between Social Trust and Correlations Between Social Trust and Participation (UK) – See Appendix 2 for Participation (UK) – See Appendix 2 for

InterpretationInterpretation internet sportmem sportpar culmem culpar soccmem soccpar Trusted 0.1** 0.1** 0.1** 0.1** 0.1** 0.0 0.1**

0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.0

People Fair 0.0 0.0** 0.1** 0.1** 0.1** 0.1** 0.0

0.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1

People helpful 0.0** 0.0 0.0 0.1** 0.1** 0.1** 0.1**

0.0 0.7 0.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Trust in parliament 0.1** 0.1** 0.1** 0.1** 0.1** 0.0 0.1**

0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.0

Trust in the legal system 0.1** 0.1** 0.1** 0.1** 0.1** 0.0 0.0

0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.9 0.8

Trust in the police 0.1** 0.0** 0.1** 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.3 0.7

Trust in politicians 0.1** 0.1** 0.1** 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.5 0.1

Satisfied with life 0.0 0.1** 0.1** 0.0 0.1** 0.1** 0.0

0.3 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.3

How often meet with friends 0.0 0.1** 0.1** 0.1** 0.1** 0.1** 0.1*

0.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Unsafe -0.2** -0.2** -0.1** -0.1** -0.1** 0.0 0.0

0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.6 0.9

Unhealthy -0.2** -0.2** -0.2** -0.1** -0.1** 0.0 0.0

0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.2

Membership of a Sports/outdoor Activity Membership of a Sports/outdoor Activity Club Has a Positive Effect on Well-being Club Has a Positive Effect on Well-being

Controlling for Other FactorsControlling for Other Factors

Civic Trust Personal Trust Well Being

B t sig B t sig B t sig

(Constant) 15.9 7.3 0.0 9.4 6.4 0.0 17.8 15.3 0.0

Age -0.2 -3.7 0.0 0.0 0.3 0.7 -0.1 -1.6 0.1

Age squared 0.0 4.0 0.0 0.0 1.3 0.2 0.0 2.3 0.0

Years of full-time education completed 0.1 1.6 0.1 0.1 3.4 0.0 0.0 -0.9 0.3

Gender -0.6 -1.6 0.1 -0.2 -0.9 0.4 -0.4 -1.8 0.1

Cultural/hobby activity organisation 0.7 1.6 0.1 0.9 2.9 0.0 0.2 0.8 0.4

Sports/outdoor activity club 1.0 2.3 0.0 0.3 1.1 0.3 0.7 3.2 0.0

Member of a group discriminated against -3.3 -6.0 0.0 -1.4 -3.9 0.0 -1.5 -5.1 0.0

Household's total net income, all sources 0.2 2.7 0.0 0.1 1.0 0.3 0.4 8.5 0.0

Mother's highest level of education 0.3 1.4 0.2 0.5 3.2 0.0 0.1 1.1 0.3

Father's highest level of education 0.3 1.2 0.2 -0.1 -0.5 0.6 -0.1 -0.7 0.5

R-Squared 0.054 0.068 0.085

The Demographic Determinants of The Demographic Determinants of Sporting ParticipationSporting Participation

By examing the demographic determinants of sports participation we can begin to think in a more targeted fashion on the potential role of sport in building communities and social capital

Results from the statistical models show that women, manual workers and unemployed, and older people play markedly less sport, which should be taken in to account when thinking about social capital generation.

Who doesn’t Participate in Sport? (Binary Who doesn’t Participate in Sport? (Binary Logistic Model based on Time Usage Data)Logistic Model based on Time Usage Data)

B S.E. Wald df Sig.Number of Children 0.08 0.03 7.91 1.00 0.00Unemployment in the Area 0.07 0.01 88.04 1.00 0.00Population Density 0.00 0.00 5.80 1.00 0.02Managerial & professional occsSocial Class 223.37 4.00 0.00Intermediate occs 0.34 0.07 21.98 1.00 0.00Routine & manual occs 0.82 0.06 176.03 1.00 0.00Never worked 0.96 0.10 87.85 1.00 0.00Students/Other 0.12 0.13 0.78 1.00 0.38Male -0.45 0.05 81.69 1.00 0.00Age Group 549.35 3.00 0.0016 -24 yrs -2.05 0.10 396.36 1.00 0.0025 -44 yrs -1.61 0.08 415.04 1.00 0.0045 -64 yrs -0.94 0.07 177.93 1.00 0.0065 yrs or moreConstant -0.06 0.08 0.46 1.00 0.50

Different Sports – Different Different Sports – Different Demographics (See appendix 3)Demographics (See appendix 3)

Walking Football Swimming B Sig B Sig B SigNumber of Children -0.09 0.01 0.04 0.47 0.13 0.00Unemployment in the Area -0.04 0.00 -0.03 0.15 -0.04 0.00Population Density 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.42 0.00 0.42Social Class 0.00 0.32 0.00Managerial & professional (Ref. Group)Intermediate occs -0.24 0.00 -0.37 0.08 -0.31 0.00Routine & manual occs -0.64 0.00 -0.12 0.43 -0.74 0.00Never worked -0.71 0.00 -0.64 0.12 -0.82 0.00Students/Other -0.19 0.14 -0.13 0.55 -0.33 0.02Male -0.19 0.00 2.88 0.00 -0.39 0.00Age Group 0.00 0.0016 -24 yrs 0.42 0.00 5.89 0.00 1.43 0.0025 -44 yrs 0.66 0.00 4.46 0.00 1.47 0.0045 -64 yrs 0.71 0.00 2.44 0.02 0.81 0.0065 yrs or more (reference group)Constant -0.88 0.00 -9.18 0.00 -2.13 0.00

How People Become InvolvedHow People Become Involved Male Female From someone else already involved with the group 39.65 38.60 Through previously using services provided by the group myself 21.07 16.66 Place of worship (church, chapel, mosque, synagogue or templ 16.74 20.15 School, college, university 14.26 23.45 Local events 7.05 4.78 Local newspapers 5.25 5.52 Promotional events / volunteer fair 4.16 3.89 Community centre 4.00 4.07 Employer's volunteering scheme 3.68 3.36 Internet / organisational website 2.44 1.67 Local TV / radio 2.36 1.51 Library 2.28 3.02 National newspapers 2.20 1.94 Volunteer bureau, council for voluntary service or other voluntary orgs. 2.04 2.44

Barriers to Further InvolvementBarriers to Further Involvement

Male Female Col % Col % General references to lack of time/being too busy 29.00 27.31 No-one has ever asked me to/never been asked 19.76 17.60 Work commitments 11.19 8.70 No need/no need locally/help not needed 8.38 8.18 Parenting/caring/family responsibilities 5.53 14.43 Reasons to do with physical/mental health/disability 5.53 7.26 Not involved in local community 2.85 3.21 Studying commitments 2.36 2.41 Life stage 1.77 1.84 New to area 1.54 1.36

Ways to Get People More InvolvedWays to Get People More Involved Male Female If someone asked me directly to get involved 35.50 34.61 If my friends or family got involved with me 30.05 29.63 If someone who was already involved was there to help get me 19.44 22.84 If I knew it would help me improve my skills or get qualific 18.93 18.92 If more information about the things I could do was availabl 16.93 18.15 If I knew it would benefit me in my career or improve my job 16.55 15.98 If I could do it from home 15.85 23.26 If I knew I could get my expenses paid 8.66 9.08 If someone could provide transport when I needed it 7.25 10.96 If I had time/more time 0.92 1.13 If the activity was enjoyable/interesting/worthwhile 0.42 0.30 If I was in better health/well enough 0.32 0.34 If I could choose the activity 0.13 0.08 If I knew there was a need 0.13 0.07 If I was younger 0.09 0.14 Child care 0.17 Other 0.13 0.17 Dont know 3.54 3.41 None of these 26.30 24.50 Not Stated 0.76 0.69

Future ResearchFuture ResearchDevelop more refined statistical models of

existing measures. Develop refined, agreed upon, and publicised

scales.Track existing measures through time.Programmatic evaluations incorporating

measures of social capital that extend beyond economic cost-benefit.

Disentangling the macro correlation?

References (1)References (1)

Attwood, C., Singh., G., Prime, D., and Creasey, R. (2001) “2001 Home Office Citizenship Survey : people, families and communities”. Home Office Research Study 270”.

Bailey, R., (2005). “Evaluating the relationship between education, sport and social inclusion” educational review, volume 57, issue 1, pp 71 –90.

Collins, M. (2004). "Sport, physical activity and social exclusion." Journal of Sports Sciences 22(8): 727-740.

Curtis, J., McTeer, W., And white, P., (2003). “Do high school athletes earn more pay? Youth participation and earnings as an adult.” Sociology of sport journal, volume 20, issue 1, pp 60 –76.

Daly, S. (2004). “Social capital and the cultural sector: literature review prepared for the department of culture, media and sport.” Center for civil society, LSE.

Department of culture media and sport, UK (2002): game plan: A strategy for delivering government's sport and physical activity objectives.

References (2)References (2) Delaney, L. (2005). “Cultural Participation and Social Capital:

Evidence from Survey Data” Paper Presented at the ippr Conference, “Cultural Participation and Communities”. Held at the UK Home Office, January 2005.

Delaney, L. and Fahey, F., (2005). “The Social and Economic Value of Sport in Ireland, Dublin, Economic and Social Research Institute. (Forthcoming).

Fahey, T., Layte, R., And Gannon, B., (2003). “Sports participation and health among adults in Ireland.” Dublin, economic and social research institute.

Hall, P. A. (1999). "Social capital in Britain." British Journal of Political Science 29: 417-461.

Home office, citizenship survey, 2002. Performance and Innovation Unit (2002). “Social Capital: A

discussion paper”. London PIU, Cabinet Office. Putnam, R. D. (2000), bowling alone: the decline and revival of

American community, new York: Simon Schuster.

References (3)References (3) Sport England website www.sportengland.org. Stolle, D. And M. Hooghe (2005). "Review article: inaccurate,

exceptional, one-sided or irrelevant? The debate about the alleged decline of social capital and civic engagement in western societies." British journal of political science 35: 149-167.

Sturgis, P., And Jackson, J. (2003). “Examining participation in sporting and cultural activities: analysis of the UK time usage survey. Phase 2”. Commissioned by the department of culture, media and sport. November.

World health organisation (2003): consultation document to guide development of a WHO strategy for diet, physical activity and health.

Appendix 1Appendix 1The Cross-National Correlations are

Spearman Rank Correlations between the average score on social capital variables (down the side) and the average score on Participation Variables (across the top).

We have 20 countries.So, for example, a correlation of 0.9

between x and y means that there is a 90% correlation between a countries level of x and a countries level of y within the 20 countries

Appendix 2Appendix 2 The National Correlations are Pearson

Correlations between the average score on social capital variables (down the side) and the average score on Participation Variables (across the top).

We have approximately 1400 individuals. So, for example, a correlation of 0.1 between x

and y means that there is a 10% correlation between an individuals level of x and an individuals level of y within the 1400 observations

Appendix 3Appendix 3

The statistical models used in this presentation are called “binary logistic models”. They examine the probability of observing a response (in this case whether the person played a sport or not) as a function of a set of variables (in this case social class, gender etc).