Factors affecting cultural participation among children.

Abstract

Cultural participation improves quality of life, wellbeing, and participation in wider society. The purpose of this study is to investigate factors affecting the cultural participation of children. In the first part, the theoretical framework defines cultural participation, discusses why it should be studied in children, and discusses potential affecting factors such as the family’s cultural participation, family socio-economic status, parents’ education, and ethnicity. This research aims to answer the question “What is the relationship between the socioeconomic status and the cultural participation of children?” and sub-questions “What factors interact with socio-economic status?” and “What changes can be seen in the relationship between socio-economic status and the cultural participation of children and interacting factors between 2005 and 2016?”. Data from the yearly UK survey “Taking Part: the National Survey of Culture, Leisure and Sport” was used, years 2005/06 and 2016/17. The subjects were randomly selected from a list of addresses within the UK. The variables ‘cultural participation’, ‘socio-economic status’, ‘ethnicity’, and ‘educational qualifications’ were examined through quantitative methods. The results show that there is a correlation between socioeconomic status and cultural participation among children in both years. This study supports educational qualifications as an interacting factor but found no evidence for ethnicity as such. Based on the results of this research, it can be implied that policies need to target socio-economic status and educational qualifications in order to improve equality in cultural participation among children.