New hobbies research report
At PAS, we have long been supporters of hobbies and believe they bring so much value to our lives, whether it’s to learn a new skill, or simply a fun activity to switch off from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. But we also know that accessing hobbies is often seen as a ‘nice to have’ rather than a right due to a variety of factors. With Scotland introducing the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) into Scots Law in 2024, this has fuelled our commitment to campaigning for free access to hobbies for children and young people. Article 31 of the UNCRC covers a child’s right to relax, play and take part in a wide range of cultural and artistic activities.
The foundations for our work on this area come from Amy’s Churchill Fellowship study on the hobby provision models in Finland and Iceland. Having seen the benefits that these models have had, we believe Scotland would benefit from encouraging and supporting children and young people to access hobbies.
Before we begin to think about how a model would look in Scotland, we first need to map out the many different perspectives we need to include in discussions – hobby providers, third sector partners, funders, government officials, parents and carers, and most importantly, children and young people.
Having established a working group of third sector organisations and funders, and spoken with decision makers, we decided PAS should look into what parents and carers feel about children’s access to hobbies.
Last year, PAS conducted a short research project to find out what parents and carers felt were the main barriers to children’s participation and what could help. Through an online survey and some in person focus groups, we heard from 577 parents and carers from across 30 local authorities in Scotland.
Parents and carers listed a wide variety of benefits that hobbies bring to their child’s lives, with the most common being personal development and learning, and social engagement. It was interesting to me that only 26% of respondents cited fun and enjoyment as a benefit of taking part in a hobby. Maybe we just assume hobbies are fun and overlook it, but it's important that we acknowledge this aspect of hobbies and regardless of age, have outlets that allow us to switch off from the world and relax and enjoy – something that many of us are guilty of forgetting!
Prevention was also an interesting theme that emerged in the data. It included keeping children and young people off screens and engaging in anti-social behaviour, but some expanded this in terms of hobbies preventing the pressure put on services such as the NHS.
Many of the barriers that were mentioned by parents and carers, such as cost, did not come as a surprise, and some even questioned why we were asking what seemed like an obvious question. But, with the diverse nature and intersectionality of individual and community experiences, and the geographical make up of Scotland, it was important to gain a better sense of the barriers. It was important for us to ensure more voices were represented, and to the hear possible solutions that people had to offer.
The top three mentioned barriers came under financial pressures, local availability and settings, and parental pressures which included juggling their children’s hobbies around their working hours, having multiple children wanting to attend things, and lack of support. Some smaller themes included the nature of hobbies, with a couple respondents discussing the gendered, and competitive nature of hobbies that could put children and young people off participating. Perhaps that is linked to why we had less people citing ‘fun’ as a benefit of hobbies, but as one respondent put it, “...sometimes kids just want to try something new and have a bit of fun.” (survey respondent).
One thing that was clear, was the overwhelming support for Scotland to introduce a free hobby model. Granted there was some uncertainty – as there is with all new proposed policies about how they work in theory versus practice. But with over 90% of respondents being in favour of a national approach, it is clearly an area we need to continue to campaign for and raise the profile of.