YOUR FORUM FOR PLAY, SPORTS UND LEISURE AREAS
There is nothing the Germans consider more sacred than their leisure time and so they aspire to pack in as much as possible: fun, exercise and adventure, culture, sport and recreation, togetherness with family, friends and acquaintances and much, much more. That, anyway, is how they would like to spend their spare time. But a period of economic uncertainty, it is not everyone who feels that they can readily afford a diverse and wide-ranging programme of leisure activities. It is thus not surprising to learn that Germans currently prefer to enjoy themselves quietly at home. Relaxing in front of the TV (97%), telephoning friends (91%) and listening to the radio (89%) are well in the lead when it comes what they choose to do in their spare time. This is the result of a survey, ‘Freizeit Monitor 2010’, undertaken by British American Tobacco’s Foundation for Future Studies (Stiftung für Zukunftsfragen), of a representative sample of 4000 individuals aged 14 years and over in Germany. The survey population was asked about a total of 80 different leisure activities. The most popular spare time activities for Germans - in other words, those activities they indulge in at least once a week - all take place within their own four walls. In addition to reading newspapers and magazines (79%), the average German likes to spend time with family (72%) and partner (67%). But more self-centred activities are also prevalent; nearly three in every four of those surveyed (71%) are partial to spending time ‘daydreaming’, while 65% enjoy sleeping in and 50% like being idle and doing nothing. Much here calls to mind the cocooning trend observed in the 1980s and 1990s, which involved individuals socialising less and retreating into home and private sphere. But, according to Dr. Ulrich Reinhardt, Leisure Consultant to the BAT Foundation, the causes behind this development have changed. “We are now in the era of the fourth wave of cocooning. The first wave involved people’s withdrawal into the comfort and cosiness of their own homes. The second wave during the market boom years was characterised by new narcissistic tendencies, in which the home became an expression of personal style. Following 9/11, cocooning was a symptom of fear, of seeking safety and security among family and friends. Our current cocooning trend is something that has been enforced by the recession. Because of feelings of insecurity and uncertainty about the future, many Germans now decide to spend their spare time at home.”
The only leisure time activity that features among the top ten and which is (often) indulged in outside the home is the growing use of mobile phones (65%). On their way to work, waiting for a bus, in a restaurant, at the hairdressers, in the supermarket - wherever they may be, Germans seem to use every free second available to them to converse, chat or simply blather using their mobiles. “With the introduction of flat rate charges and low fees, mobile phones have ceased to become primarily an instrument of communication and are being used as playthings to avoid boredom and fill out any idle minutes”, claims Ulrich Reinhardt.
Low earners help themselves
It is over recent decades that leisure time became equated with spending and consumption. The frequency of leisure activities undertaken thus tended to increase with income. With a good income, you were able do more in your spare time. Low earners, on the other hand, simply fell by the wayside and were able to indulge in leisure activities far less often. There were three exceptions to this: when it came to do-it-yourself, doing nothing and attending church services, the lower income groups were far ahead of their better earning contemporaries. The statistics of the current ‘Freizeit Monitor’ of the BAT Foundation evidence that a change is occurring here. Instead of just dreaming of their ideal recreational activities, low earners are beginning to take matters into their own hands. Those on lower incomes (less than €1000 net/month) are involved in some 30 of the 80 listed activities more frequently than their higher earning peers (over €3500 net/month).
While it is true that the better-off indulge themselves more often with health treatments, visits to the theatre and day trips, a transformation is occurring in the social environment. Lower earners, for example, have more contact with their neighbours, gossiping with them or even providing them with concrete assistance. They get together more often with friends, lending a hand around the house and even extending their circle of acquaintances. Lower earners are also more active when it comes to some aspects of exercise: they ride a bicycle, go hiking and do something to keep themselves fit more frequently. “The increasing uncertainties in our difficult times mean that many are beginning to seriously consider the advantages of low-cost leisure activities”, explains Reinhardt, “But low-cost does not necessarily mean less ambitious, less meaningful and less fun. This development is being accompanied by a revaluation of social leisure activities that can be undertaken in and near the home - and this is a positive change as far as society is concerned.”
But the upshot is not that we will see the disappearance of restaurants, cinemas and shopping centres; consumerism is a force that is here to stay. One in seven of all surveyed lower income earners (14%, compared with 11% for the population as a whole) specified that one of their preferred spare time activities was “earning extra money” so that they could occasionally afford the more expense forms of recreational amusement.
(www.stiftungfuerzukunftsfragen.de)
Photo: Juttaschnecke / photocase.com
