1. Leisure and The Spirit Level A. J. Veal Presentation to the Leisure Studies Association annual conference: Diversity and Equality in Leisure, Sport and Tourism, Leeds Metropolitan University, July, 2010

2. The Spirit Level thesis (Wilkinson and Pickett, 2009) Happiness/life expectancy: – Increases with income up to about $20k pa per head – Over $20k no relationship: – So income/GDP is inadequate as a measure of well-being Spirit Level variables: – Income equality/inequality – A range of measures of human well-being More equality = enhanced well-being Enhanced well-being applies to all strata of society, not just the poor Examined across a range of well-being indicators in 21 richest countries But: no data included on leisure – Inequality, in various forms, one of the foundations leisure studies

3. Spirit Level measure of Inequality Ratio of the average income of the top 20% to the average income of the bottom 20% – Net of income tax/transfers – Adjusted for household size Data: – For the richest 21 countries – 1990s – early 2000s

4. Source; Spirit Level, p. 17 * Starred countries included in initial leisure analysis in this paper

5. Spirit Level well-being indicators Trust of neighbours etc. (survey-based) Women’s status Mental illness Illegal drug use Life expectancy Infant mortality Obesity Educational attainment Teenage pregnancy Crime Social/class mobility (Working hours) (Bowles and Park) Some leisure connection: relevant graphs presented below – with added R 2

6. Mental illness Source; based on Spirit Level, p. 67 – R 2 added

7. Obesity Source: based on Spirit Level, p. 93

8. Working hours Source: Bowles and Parks data (1963-98) extracted from Spirit Level Fig. 15.3 (p. 224), Inequality = 90 th : 50 th percentiles

9. Possible theory/rationale (Veal thoughts) More equal societies which have larger public sector results in: – More public services: health, education – More state regulation/planning: health, safety, etc. – Stronger trade unions: social contract Less relative poverty results in: less crime Application to leisure – More public services: eg. sport, arts, parks – More state regulation/planning: eg. holidays, working hrs – Stronger trade unions results in: more holidays, shorter working hours, more generous retirement arrangements

10. Leisure-related data used in this paper Working hours Leisure time Tourism/holidays Leisure/sport participation Relevant graphs presented below

11. Average paid working hours/week NB Different results from Spirit Level Fig. 15.3

12. Leisure time – hours/day

13. Ratio of work hours to leisure hours

14. Holidays

15. Sport/physical recreation (EU countries only)

16. Tentative conclusion More equal societies have better leisure participation outcomes – particularly in sport participation Spirit Level thesis partially supported by leisure data

17. Sources Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett (2009) The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always do Better. London: Allen Lane. See also: www.equalitytrust.org.ukwww.equalitytrust.org.uk S. Bowles and Y. York (2005) Emulation, inequality and work hours: was Thorstein Veblen right? Economic Journal, 115: F397-412. Working hours: The Conference Board Total Economy Database, Univ. of Groningen Jan. 2010: www.conference-board.org/ economics/database.cfm Time use: Harmonised European Time Use Study: https://www.h2.scb.se/tus/tus/ https://www.h2.scb.se/tus/tus/ Holidays: OECD: Society at a Glance, Chapter 2: www.oecd.org/www.oecd.org/ Sport: European Commission: Eurobarometer: 2004: http://ec.europa.eu/sport/pub/doc892_en.htm http://ec.europa.eu/sport/pub/doc892_en.htm

18. Critics Saunders, P. (2010) Beware False Prophets: Equality, the Good Society and The Spirit Level. London: Policy Exchange, available at: www.policyexchange.org.uk.www.policyexchange.org.uk Snowdon, C. (2010) The Spirit Level Delusion: Fact- checking the Left’s New Theory of Everything. Ripon, N. Yorks: Little Dice, see www.spiritleveldelusion.comwww.spiritleveldelusion.com