THE INFLUENCE of PARENTS’ PHYSICAL ACTIVITY on PARTICIPATION in SPORT. HOW DOES IT AFFECT SOCIAL CLASS INEQUALITY?

Abstract

This article explores how parents’ sporting activity mediates the effect of social class on an individual’s sport participation. Drawing on the four Surveys of Sports Habits in Spain conducted by the CIS, the results confirm existing empirical evidence suggesting that belonging to a higher social class and having had physically active parents (either in the present or in the past) increases the probability of participating in sports. However, the analysis reveals that the positive effect of having parents who take part in sports currently is, under equal conditions, much stronger among social classes that are not at the top of the social structure. These findings show the equalizing effect of having physically active parents, so that the differences between the high professional class and the rest disappear, or even reverse, when it comes to participating in sport at least three times a week.