Young people and unemployment: Does job loss diminish involvement in leisure?

This paper examines the impact of unemployment on the leisure of young peop le in Western Australia. It attempts to find out whether job loss diminishe s the quantity and quality of participation in leisure activities. Original quantitative and qualitative data were derived through interviews with 82 males and females between the ages of 18 and 30 years. Before and after job loss comparisons were made on leisure participation in and out of the home . It was found that the number of home-based activities remained the same o r tended to increase for a large numbers of unemployed people after job los s but the quality of the leisure experience was diminished. Job loss affect ed out-of-home activities for fitness, sociability, entertainment and membe rship in clubs and associations. They tended to diminish in quantity as wel l as quality. Material deprivation was a major cause and to a lesser extent psychological deprivation for the reduction in participation of activities outside the home. The findings could not be universally applied, but the g eneral trends indicated that unemployment diminishes the quantity and quali ty of the leisure domain of young people.