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CHAPTER 5 ACTIVITIES WITH OTHERS

5.1 Introduction

The home environment is important in supporting social development and early education and therefore influences the life chances of children. While further longitudinal data and analyses will need to be collected and conducted to assess how influential the home environment is in the medium and longer term, this chapter is able to document what is going on in the homes of young children in terms of social and educational activities. Data are collected on a range of activities, including social visits and contacts, reading and educational activities, art activities, singing and outdoor activities. We are also able to see how computers and TVs are being used in households with young children. Respondent satisfaction with the range of activities is also reported.

This chapter explores this topic, using sweep 2 data only. The majority of questions in this section were new to the questionnaire at sweep 2 and thus there are no comparative data from sweep 1. The activities section was asked of both cohorts.

5.1.1 Types of analysis

The tables in this chapter present the following main types of analysis:

• Comparisons of the answers given by the main respondent at sweep 2 in both the birth and child cohorts. This includes mainly straightforward comparisons of the proportions giving particular responses in each cohort.
• Analysis of the answers of main respondents by factors that might help explain these answers (for example, the age or educational background of the respondent).
• Examination of the answers given by the partners of main respondents.

5.2 Visiting/Being visited by other people

Almost all parents placed high value on their child socialising outside of their immediate family (97% saying this was very or fairly important for their child) and, for the most part, this is reflected in levels of actual contact. Sixty-five percent of children in both cohorts were taken to visit other people with young children at least once a week, including 18% who went every day or most days. Lone parents appeared to follow a different pattern, falling into two main groups; some children in lone parent families seem to be quite isolated, 10% never visiting other people with young children, while other lone parents appear to have very active social networks, 27% visiting other families almost every day, in contrast to 17% (birth cohort) and 14% (toddler cohort) of respondents in couple families. Children of younger mothers were also likely to socialise more frequently (see

Table 5.1), although this may be related to maternal employment - younger mothers, who were less likely to be working, and working full-time, than were older mothers, would have more time available for socialising in this manner. Indeed, the data shows that unemployed mothers were more likely to socialise in this manner more often than those who were employed.

Table 5.1 Frequency of visiting other people with young children by cohort and age of mother at birth of cohort child

5.3 Activities

5.3.1 Literacy

Books and stories appear to play an important part in the lives of almost all the children studied: 79% of children in both cohorts had looked at books or read stories every day. But there were still some interesting differences by sub-group within both cohorts. Although children who were living in a lone parent household were only slightly less likely to have looked at books at all in the past week, they were much less likely to have looked at books every day (for example, in the birth cohort: 82% in couple households looked at books every day compared with 68% in lone parent households). The age of the child's mother also appeared to have an effect: children with older mothers tended to look at books more often: 86% of birth cohort children with mothers aged 40 or older at birth looked at books every day, in contrast to 67% of children born to teenage mothers. In the child cohort this difference was 91% in contrast to 72%. However, whether this is due to age, education or employment status of mothers is unclear but this finding does mirror that in section 7.3.1 where older mothers were more likely than younger mothers to report that they read to their child at least once a day.

Figure 5-A Number of days child looked at books in last week by number of children in household and cohort

Only children get read to more than children with siblings, particularly when compared to those in households of four or more children (84% of only children looked at books everyday compared with 57% of those in a household with three or more other children - see Figure 5-A). Indeed, 6% of birth cohort children in the largest households had not looked at books at all in the last week. The effect of living in a larger household was more limited in the child cohort, although some variation can still be seen. This may be explained by the 63% of children in the child cohort who had looked at books with a member of childcare staff in the last week, in contrast to just 26% in the birth cohort, reflecting the different formal-informal childcare arrangements for these two groups.

Perhaps not surprisingly, given prevalent childcare arrangements, almost all children read with their mother. The proportion of mothers who read with their child in the last week was also strongly linked to the education level of the mother. Almost one in five mothers in the child cohort who had no qualifications had not read with their child in the past week, compared with one in twenty mothers with Highers or above. For children in larger households with four or more children this was even more pronounced (Table 5.2): in the birth cohort, 20% of mothers with no qualifications in these households had not read to their child, nor had 32% of those with just Standard Grades. There also appeared to be a link between adult literacy and children's reading habits: 85% of respondents who had read a book for pleasure themselves in the previous week, had a child who had looked at books everyday in the past week, compared with 72% of respondents who had not read themselves. Although the latter figure is significantly lower, it is interesting that three-quarters of mothers who had not read themselves had still read every day to their child, suggesting an awareness of the benefits of reading to children.

Figure 5-B Percentage of children in the birth cohort who didn't look at books in the last week with their mother by mother's education level and number of children in the household

Of those children in couple families, around three-quarters had read with their father in the last week, leaving a quarter of fathers not reading to their children on a regular basis, despite this often being seen as a 'bedtime activity', which many fathers have the potential to be involved with. This gender division can also be seen between grandparents, with grandmothers being more likely to read to a child than grandfathers (44% vs. 21% in the birth cohort). These latter figures again signal the very active role that grandparents (or, more specifically, grandmothers) play in the lives of very young children in Scotland. Again, reflecting the different childcare provision for the two cohorts, children in the birth cohort were more likely to have looked at books with a grandmother or grandfather than those in the child cohort (36% and 15%), whereas children in the child cohort were more likely to have looked at books with a member of childcare staff (63% vs. 26%).

The importance placed on reading can also be observed in the proportion of children who visited the library, as we will explore in section 5.4.

5.3.2 Educational activities

Educational activities appeared to loom large in most families studied. Even in the birth cohort, where children were not even 2 years old, more than two-thirds had played at recognising letters, words, numbers or shapes in the previous week (Table 5.2). The higher proportions of children in the child cohort undertaking educational activities may reflect on the majority of these children attending a pre-school place (64% mentioned playing at recognising letters, words, numbers or shapes with a member of childcare staff).

Table 5.2 Frequency of educational activities by cohort

Once more we see the impact of living in a larger household. Around three in five children from the largest households had not undertaken these educational activities in the past week in contrast to 1 in 5 in one-child households in the birth cohort (Figure 5-C). At this stage it is too early to say how this may impact on the longer-term development of children in these larger households, and the extent to which lower participation in educational activities with significant adults is compensated by frequent interaction with siblings. However, this will be an interesting area to track in future sweeps.

Figure 5-C Frequency of educational activities by number of children in household: birth cohort

Again, investment in education was also more common in households with certain characteristics. For those children who had not participated in educational activities in the previous week, there were stark differences between subgroups, particularly within the birth cohort: 45% of children with mothers with no qualifications had not played at recognising letters, words, shapes or numbers in the past seven days, compared with 29% of children whose mothers had Higher grades or above. Children in lower income families had done these activities less (35% in households with an income of less than £14,999, in comparison with 28% in households earning over £44,000) and 35% of children in routine and semi-routine households fell into this group, in contrast to 29% of children in managerial and professional households. Previous analysis has already shown that these variables are interlinked, and further analysis would be required in order to establish which is the most important influence on whether a child participates in educational activities in the home.

Figure 5-D Children who had not played at recognising letters, words, shapes or numbers in the past seven days by cohort, family type and household employment status

With increasing pressure on working parents to split their time between work and family, it is often feared that children with working parents miss out on certain developmental activities. However, what we see in GUS is that a lack of time does not appear to be limiting these children's activities, in fact, the opposite appears to be true. Almost double the proportion of children in couple families where both parents were unemployed or in paid work for less than 16 hours a week had not participated in these activities in comparison with children in either lone parent or couple households where all parents in the household worked more than 16 hours a week (Figure 5-D). In the child cohort, children in lone parent families where the parent was not working or in paid work for less than 16 hours per week fared the worst, nearly 9% having not done this activity in the past week in contrast to 4% of children in couple or lone parent households where parents were working over 16 hours per week. This suggests that factors other than lack of time, such as parental education, are affecting whether children are engaging in educational activities, particularly in the pre-school age group.

5.3.3 Painting and drawing

Activities for children of this age were, for the most part, not gender-specific. However, one exception to this was drawing and painting, 35% of girls in the birth cohort were drawing or painting everyday compared with 20% of boys (46% and 26% respectively in the child cohort). Again, the effects of formal childcare appears to narrow the gap between boys and girls in the child cohort who had not done any art activities (4% of boys and 1% of girls), 70% of whom had done some drawing or painting with a member of childcare staff in the previous week (29% in the birth cohort).

Table 5.3 Frequency of painting and drawing by cohort

5.3.4 Singing

The majority of children had recited nursery rhymes or sung songs on at least one day in the week prior to the interview: 87% in the birth cohort and 98% in the child cohort. Again, it seems that only children have a far more direct focus on them, just one in ten in the birth cohort having not sung songs in the week prior to the interview, compared with one in five children in households with four or more children. In the birth cohort, singing was also more common among children with a mother with higher qualifications, with an older mother, and where the household was in a higher income group. Once more we saw the pre-school effect in the child cohort, with little variation in the amount of time spent singing between social and economic groups.

5.3.5 Using a computer

Most children at this stage had not used a computer - 84% of children in the birth cohort had not done this in the last week, nor had a third of children in the child cohort, although 15% in this cohort had used a computer or games console everyday. In the child cohort, 31% of children had done this activity with their father and 39% with their mother, while 43% had used a computer with a member of childcare staff. In future sweeps it will be interesting to track when children start using a computer and frequency of use.

5.3.6 Television

Watching TV every day is the norm, even at 22 months, although 19% in this younger age group had not watched any television in the previous week. In the child cohort 84% of children had watched TV every day, with just 3% not having watched any television.

Figure 5-E Frequency of children watching television in the previous week by cohort

Interestingly, there were no marked variations by sub-group in response to this question in the child cohort. In the birth cohort, children who had a mother with no qualifications, who had a teenage mother at birth, or who were living in a semi-routine and routine household or in a household in the lowest income quartile were more likely to have been reported as watching TV every day. Only children were also more likely to have watched TV every day (65% vs. 56% in larger households), and were far less likely to have not watched TV at all - 17% in comparison with 29% in households with four or more children. Since we have already seen that in other respects, only children get more attention from adults, this suggests perhaps that in larger households, children are simply more likely to play with each other.

Respondents were asked at what time of day the child watched TV and who they watched it with. Children in the birth cohort tended to watch TV early in the morning (68%, compared with 61% in the child cohort), while children in the child cohort were more likely to also watch TV in the late afternoon or early evening (62% compared with 48% in the birth cohort). Just 21% of the child cohort and 25% of the birth cohort watched TV during the main part of the day.

Children in the birth cohort were not only more likely to not watch TV at all, but they also watched much less. The majority of children in the birth cohort watched less than an hour of TV on the average weekday (63%), with a further 24% watching between one and two hours. This contrasted with the child cohort, only 33% of whom watched less than an hour of TV on the average weekday, compared with 37% who watched between one and two hours and 30% who watched two or more hours a day. In a time where childhood obesity appears to be on the increase, the amount of television these young children are watching on a daily basis is likely to be a concern. However, the extent to which this appears to be having an impact on time spent on physical activity appears to be limited, as we shall explore in Section 5.3.7 below.

Figure 5-F Amount of TV watched on an average weekday by cohort

Of those children who watched television, 56% of children in the child cohort watched TV on their own (45% in the birth cohort), with 51% watching with other children (42% in the birth cohort). ¹¹ This is not altogether surprising when the reasons parents gave for letting their child watch TV are explored. The three most popular reasons cited were 'it keeps him/her entertained' (84% and 82% respectively), 'it allows me to get on with other things' (55% and 51%) and 'it keeps him/her quiet' (26% and 28%). A further 21% in the birth cohort and 26% in the child cohort felt that watching TV raised the child's awareness of the world around them.

5.3.7 Outdoor activity

In recent years there has been widespread concern about children's lack of physical exercise and its link to child health and obesity. So what can the study tell us about children's physical activity? Despite these concerns, more than half of children played outside every day in the week prior to the interview, but there were seasonal effects here (Figure 5-G). For example, 85% of the birth cohort and 89% of the child cohort who were interviewed in July had played outdoors every day. Among those interviewed in January, by contrast, figures were 19% and 21% respectively.

Parents were asked how important it was for them that their child got to run around and play outside. The overwhelming majority of respondents (84% in the birth cohort and 89% in the child cohort) felt that it was very important that their child got to run around and play outside, with a further 14% and 12% saying that this was fairly important. Partners placed even more importance on outdoor activity with 89% in the birth cohort and 91% in the child cohort, saying that this opportunity was very important. However, in an age where parents are nervous about their children playing outside the confines of the home, accessibility was a key issue. Of those children with access to a shared or private garden, 55% in the birth cohort and 58% in the child cohort had played outdoors every day in the previous week, in contrast to 35% and 33%, respectively, who did not have access to a garden.

Figure 5-G Number of days in last week child played outside by month of interview and cohort

Children with older mothers tended to play outside on a more regular basis, as did those in households in the highest income groups, no doubt because they are more likely to live in homes with gardens. In the child cohort, 62% of children in the highest earning households played outside everyday compared with 53% in the lowest earning households.

5.4 Places and events

So far we have been looking at activities in the home and family. But what patterns can we see in the data for activities undertaken outside the home? There were considerable differences between the younger and older children, especially in relation to cultural activities. One in five of the older cohort had been to the cinema in the past year, in comparison with just one in twenty in the birth cohort, 62% of children in the child cohort had also been to a live performance of some kind, compared with 25% of those in the birth cohort.

Figure 5-H Visits to selected places by cohort (%)

Again, certain family types visited these places and participated in these activities more than others (Table 5.4). Couple families were more likely to report their child visiting each of the places listed than lone parent families, with lone parent families being more likely to have reported their child visiting none of these places. But is this due to accessibility, cost, time or other factors such as parent's education?

Table 5.4 Places visited by family type (child cohort)

Sixty-four percent of lone parents did not own a car (in contrast to just 9% of couple households). Car ownership did indeed appear to be linked to children's access to places and experiences (Table 5.5), although it should be noted that this is also closely connected to income and socio-economic classification. In particular, car owners were around twice as likely to report their child having visited an art gallery, museum or historical site in the last year, and to have reported their child attending a religious service or event. Furthermore, one in twenty children in families with no car had not visited any of the places mentioned, in comparison with no children whose parents owned a car.

Table 5.5 Places visited by car ownership (child cohort)

Closely related to this are striking variations in the patterns of responses by socio-economic classification and income (Figure 5-I). Children in both cohorts living in households in the highest income quartile and in managerial and professional households were more likely to have visited the library than those in the lowest income quartile or in routine or semi-routine households. As visiting the library is free and, in the vast majority of cases, locally accessible, cost and transport factors are minimised, which would seemingly make accessing such resources easier for families in more socially disadvantaged situations. However, clearly there is further work to be done which more clearly identifies the barriers to accessing these resources for these families.

Figure 5-I Percentage of children visiting the library by cohort and income/ NS-SEC

The answer is again likely to be related to the education level of the child's mother. In the birth cohort, almost twice the number of parents with Higher Grades or above took their child to the library and the difference was equally marked in the child cohort (see Figure 5-J).

Figure 5-J Percentage of children visiting the library by cohort and mother's education

5.5 Satisfaction with range of activities

Overall, around three-fifths of respondents were very or fairly happy with the range of activities that their child had access to, including a fifth who were very satisfied. Two-fifths however would like their child to have access to a wider range of activities. There was little variation between respondents and partners.

As Table 5.6 demonstrates, there are stark contrasts in satisfaction with access to activities by income. Low income families appear to be less satisfied with access to these services than higher income families. In the birth cohort, only 11% in the lowest income group were very satisfied with the range of activities that their child has access to, in contrast to 31% of those in the highest income group, whilst 26% in the lowest income group would like their child to have access to a far wider range of activities, compared with just 7% in the highest income group. However, whether this increased dissatisfaction among lower income families is due to access in terms of locality or simply affordability remains unclear.

Table 5.6 Satisfaction with access to activities by household income

5.6 Key points

• Virtually all children had looked at books or read stories in the week prior to the interview.
• Scotland's climate had a large effect on outdoor activity: over half of children had played outside every day in the previous week, rising to over four-fifths in the summer months, but only one-fifth in January.
• The majority of children enjoyed a range of activities, from singing, drawing and looking at books, to playing at recognising shapes, letters and numbers.
• However, differences persist between economic and socio-economic groups, and between children living in lone parent and couple households.
• These differences are reduced somewhat in the child cohort, perhaps due to the almost universal uptake of free pre-school places for this age group.
• Popular places to visit for both cohorts were the swimming pool and a zoo, aquarium or farm.
• Almost all children in the child cohort had watched some television in the previous week, including over four-fifths who watched every day.
• A fifth of children in the birth cohort had not watched any TV in the past week, although around three-fifths had watched every day.

5.7 Conclusion

In this chapter we can see that most parents are ensuring that their children grow up in stimulating environments that should promote overall social and educational development. There is much positive to report: parents placed high value on their child socialising outside their immediate family and visits to other people with young children were frequent. Reading to children in both the birth and child cohorts is also well established, with most mothers looking at books with their children frequently and often every day. This embedding of books into children's lives at an early age is something that schemes such as 'Book Start' have supported. Although looking at books with children is commonplace, there were also significant differences between social groups, with mothers with no educational qualifications being much less likely to read to their child. The data also suggest that looking at books with a young child was less likely to occur in larger families. This may be an issue of available time for such one on one attention; it suggests that encouraging older children to read to younger children might be one way to support early awareness of books and reading in the latter.

Reading with a child is only one educational activity and the questionnaire also asked about other activities such as recognising letters, words, numbers or shapes. As with looking at books, these activities seemed embedded in most families' routines even with the birth cohort children. This was even more the case with the child cohort where pre-school provided more opportunities for such educational activities. Nonetheless there were worrying differences between different social groups: mothers with no educational qualifications were much less likely to report that their children engaged in these educational activities. Since level of education is also closely associated with material circumstances such as income, the same pattern emerges for families on lower compared to higher incomes. Although much sociological literature suggests that working families experience time squeeze, the results presented in this chapter suggest otherwise - the children of parents who work more than 16 hours a week were more likely to be involved in educational activities. The overriding factor is likely to be level of parental education although further analyses need to be conducted here. This would suggest that any policy that can support the continued education of those who leave school without qualifications will impact directly on their children by securing early educational opportunities within the home.

Unsurprising, watching television was a commonplace activity across both cohorts. Only a very small percentage of child cohort children watch no TV. TV was reported as keeping children entertained and also as allowing the mother to get on with other things. As such, it is likely to continue to play a role in children's lives from an early age. Although very few of the birth cohort has used a computer in the last week, a surprising 16% had done so, and two thirds of the child cohort had done so. The data also suggested that weather and daylight hours permitting, children do play outside. Moreover, other barriers to such play were reported, including access to outdoor space, particularly gardens. Almost all parents thought that it was important for children to run around and play outside. This clearly suggests that providing more opportunities for safe outside play would further increase the amount of outdoor play for young children, whether near their homes or also through preschool opportunities.

Considerable involvement in other activities such as visiting museums, swimming pools and cinemas were also reported although there was some social patterning. However, parents seem to have very similar aspirations regarding these types of activities and visits, as those in the lowest income groups were less likely to report satisfaction with the range of activities available to their children. Although preschool and school activities may go a little way to alleviate that deficit, the provision of more accessible and affordable activities that parents know about and feel comfortable using would also contribute and help meet parental expectations.

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