93zilisLdumanSSocL)AlINTRODUCTiON‘WhatisLeisure?Britishpeoplenowhavemorefreetimeandholidaysthantheydidtwentyyearsago.AswesawinChapter5,somepeopleinworkchoosetodoovertime(whichispaidatahigherrate)ratherthantakeadvantageofhavingmoreleisuretime.Generallyspeakingthough,Britishpeopleseeworkassomethingwhichmustbedone;leisure,ontheotherhand,isnotsimplyfree-time,butfreelychosenactivitiesthatarepursuedduringnon-workingtime.TheIncreaseinAvailableLeisureTimeSincethebeginningofthetwentiethcenturyemployedpeople’snon-workingtimehasincreasedsignificantly.Theaverageworkingweekformanualworkerswasreducedbyabout10hoursduringthetwentiethcentury.By2000theaverageforallfull-timeworkerswasabout40houçsperweek.Non-manualworkershavegainedarathershorterweek,averagingabout38hoursand’womentendtoworkashorterweekthanmen.Aswellashavingashorterworkingweek,peoplealsohavelessweekstoworkeachyear.•In1961,97%offull-timemanualworkerswereentitledtotwoweeksholiday;by1990,90%wereentitledtomorethanfourweekspaidholidayand30%tofiveweeks.In2000theaveragepaidholidayentitlementforallfull-timeworkerswasjustunderfiveweeks.Itseemslikelythatanyfurtherlesseningofthetimespentatworkwillcome,notfromashorteningoftheworkingdayorweek,butfromlongerholidays.AswellasthetrendoutlinedabovethepracticeofclosingfactoriesandofficesformuchlongerperiodsatChristmasandEasterhasbeengrowing.Time&MoneySinceWorldWarTwopeoplehavehadmoretimeandmoremoneytospendonleisureactivities.By1999Britishpeoplewerespendingmoreonleisurethanoneitherfoodorhousing.Belowisadiagramofthewaytimeisspentinatypicalweekdaybyanaveragefamily.138Apicalday12ThefollowingtableshowstheaveragetimespentoneachkindofactivityintheUKandhowitvariesbysex.Timespentonmainactivities:’byse.x,zooo—2005UnitedKingdomHoursandminutesperdayMalesFemalesSleepLeisure8:238:33WatchingTVandVideo/DVD2:412:17SociallifeandentertainmentReadingandlisteningtoradioandmusicHobbiesandgames1:160:360:261:330:350:16SportAllleisure0:185:170:114:52Empl