Trends in the Effects of Parents’ Education on Leisure Activities of Children Aged 6-17

A possible explanation for the association between the education of parents and their children is the way children spend their leisure time. Highly educated parents would let their children undertake activities in their free time that enhance their school success. According to Bourdieu (1984), children’s leisure time is primarily a reflection of the social status group of their parents; according Lareau (2011), especially highly educated parents stimulate their children to do activities in an institutionalized context. While both explanations are not mutually exclusive, it is possible that there has been a shift in parents’ investments in particular among higher status groups, from investment in exclusive high status activities to a broader range of activities.

In the presentation we will show how the leisure activities of at home living children, aged 6 to 17 years, depends on their parents’ education and whether there are over time changes in the effects of parents’ education. We use representative survey data from the Netherlands (AVO 1979-2007) of the Dutch Social and Cultural Planning Office.