Leisure Activities and the Socioeconomic Status of Children

Abstract

Data on leisure activities of children from family backgrounds at four socioeconomic levels tend to support two separate but not mutually exclusive hypotheses. First, children from different social-class background engage in leisure activities which are quantitatively and qualitatively different. Second, children whose behavior is not typical of their class culture pattern prepare for social mobility by interacting with children from families at other class levels. They thus have the opportunity to learn techniques and ways of thinking and feeling which prepare them for upward mobility.