Supplementary memorandum submitted by
CCPR
Question 48 (Chris Bryant)
Girls' and women's participation in sport and
recreation has risen slowly during the last 15 years, and the
gap between their and boys' and men's participation has narrowed
slightly. The difference is small during the primary school years,
but with considerable evidence that girls depend more than boys
do on their school physical education programmes for learning
the skills and confidence they need for participation. The gap
then increases during adolescence and after leaving school, EXCEPT
among young women attending full-time higher education: the significance
of length of education for women's later participation is well
known and the percentage rise in women aged 18+ at university
seems to be associated with a rise in their participation post-university.
The participation gap between them and women leaving school at
16 to go into work is therefore increasing.
Generally speaking, less women participate in
sport than men, across a smaller range of activities and less
often. The changes associated with family responsibilities happen
earlier and more suddenly for women than men, indicating that
these responsibilities are not shred equally between the sexes.
This pattern has endured over the last three decades, but the
opportunities associated with participation in higher and further
education; and the possibility of better and more targeted programmes
for young women in the community after leaving school, require
a more strategic approach. (See CCPR Memorandum to the Select
Committee Inquiry, p Ev 1.)
While there have been noticeable rises in participation
by girls and women in indoor sports and some outdoor sports, it
is not possible to discern whether this has accounted for the
decline in some other outdoor sports.
International evidence (Women's Sports Foundation
USA) indicates that young women who take part in sport are half
as likely as their non-active peers to take part in early sexual
activity or to become pregnant while teenagers—an interesting
finding which needs to be explored here in the UK, whose teenage
pregnancy rate is the highest in Europe.
13 April 2005
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