Sociodemographic Characteristics and Leisure Participation through the Perspective of Leisure Inequalities in Later Life

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between sociodemographic characteristics and leisure involvement in various meaningful activities under the political economy of aging and life course. The stepwise multiple and ordinal regression model revealed that the individual factors of older adults were significantly associated with leisure involvement: age (younger adults), gender (men), education level (higher education), perceived economic satisfaction (higher satisfaction with their financial condition), and perceived health (higher satisfaction with their health) variables were significantly related to more frequent participation in domestic leisure travel. Additionally, gender and education level were associated with leisure-time exercise; the four variables (gender, education level, economic activity, and perceived financial satisfaction) were related to leisure-time social activities. Contrary to our expectation, older adults who are older and with lower education were more likely to participate in volunteering activities. The results suggested that older adults’ sociodemographic characteristics play an essential role in leisure behavior. The extent to which these characteristics affect leisure participation varies with different types of activities and cultural contexts.