Increase in leisure time for many individuals.

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Increase in leisure time for many individuals

Time available for leisure activities

Time is essential element for all forms of leisure and recreational activities. The leisure and recreation industry under took a growth burst in the 1960s from this an expansion in the amount of free time people have for leisure has grown. People cant quite work out how the amount of free time has raised so much. This table shows the time people have for leisure between 1971–1996.

This table shows that over a 25-year period to 1996, the total leisure time in the UK has only risen by 10 percent. The leisure time per person has grown at an average rate of just 0.2 percent a year since 1971, regardless of the huge increases of consumer spending on leisure.

The amount of leisure time available to the majority of people in the UK increased steadily up to the early 1970s, but has levelled of since then. The main reasons why leisure time increased up to the 1970s were increasing amounts of annual holiday entitlement, and a gradual reduction in the weekly working hours for most of full time workers. Since the 1970s other factors have had a greater influence on the availability of time, such as:

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  • Flexible work patterns
  • The use of manual labour- saving devices in the home.
  • The increase of unemployed and retired.

This table shows the average working week for full time workers has reduced by only 5 percent to 40.2 hours in 1996; the 2001 column was a forecast of what was to come. There has been no massive change in the availability of free time to full time employees since 1971.

        The percentage of part-time workers within the UK has doubled to 30 percent. The trend towards more flexible, part-time employment since the 1970s has meant ...

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A somewhat muddled answer at times, using a lot of data to demonstrate changing trends in leisure time and expenditure since the 1970s. It would benefit from greater explanation of why these trends have occurred. 3 stars.