Disparities in free time inactivity in the United States: Trends and explanations

What accounts for trends in socioeconomic disparities in physical activity during free time? Results from four national time-use studies between 1965 and 1999 suggest that there are increasing socioeconomic disparities in passive but not active free-time activities. The author evaluates several explanations for these trends. First, the least educated adults had more free time in 1999 than in 1965, and they spend nearly all this extra free time in home settings where the most common passive activities occur (e.g., television viewing). Second, less educated adults had less income per minute of free time in 1999 than in 1965, a trend that combines with increasing supply and reduced price of important passive choices to create economic incentives for passive activity. Third, the difference between low and high educated adults in the mediation of children's viewing habits has increased, an indication of rising socioeconomic disparities in tastes and stigma for this passive activity choice. Finally, historical data suggest that these changes in the use of free time are not simply free market outcomes but also consequences of political decisions favoring television infrastructure, auto-dependent built environments, and disinvestment in public recreation.