Leisure for vulnerable young people: Importance, satisfaction and self-management

Abstract

In recent decades leisure has become increasingly significant as a means of self-development, self-realisation and personal fulfilment. After years of economic crisis and transformation, it is more important than ever to discover the views that young people, espe-cially those who are most vulnerable, have and the decisions they make about their leisure activity. As economic difficulties undermine their leisure options, this has an effect on their personal development, self-realisation, social relationships and, ultimately, on their quality of life. The aim of this paper is to analyse how young people in vulnerable situations assess their leisure activities in terms of the importance they attribute to them, their satisfaction, and how they manage their own leisure activities. To do so, a questionnaire was administered to 2,694 participants, including 783 cases (29.06% of the total sample) considered to be in a vulnerable situation. We sought to identify whether their assessment differed from that of young people who were not in a vulnerable situation. Ultimately, the aim was to determine if there were any relationships between the different assessments made by vulnerable young people about their leisure activity The results revealed that vulnerable young people attach great importance to their leisure activity, and are highly satisfied with it. They consider that being involved in organising it and/or managing the places used for leisure would not increase their satisfaction with or the benefits they receive from it.