Girls have less leisure time than boys across the world, study finds

12 October 2026

Girls have less leisure time than boys across the world, study finds

Image of boy holding an football with other children visible in the background

A paper co-authored by Dr Grace Chang and Professor Man Yee Kan has found that teenage girls around the world have less leisure time than teenage boys, even in countries with greater adult gender equality.

This pattern appeared across very different cultural and economic contexts, suggesting that gender inequality in leisure is not restricted to one particular type of society.

The study compared data from seven countries – Belgium, the UK, US, Japan, South Korea, South Africa, and India – using weekend time diaries from over 58,000 adolescents aged 10-17.

Weekend diaries were picked deliberately as younger people tend to have more discretionary time then, making gender differences easier to observe.

Across all contexts, boys spent more time on general leisure than girls, although there was national variation – in the UK, girls spent 75 minutes less time on leisure than boys, whereas in Japan, girls spent 36 minutes less.

The most striking inequality could be seen in sport and exercise, with teenage girls spending considerably less time being physically active. The biggest gap was found in Japan, where boys spent 51 more minutes on sport compared to girls. However, this gap was evident even in countries like India where boys spent an average of 10 minutes or less on physical activity.

Leisure activities in teens were also clearly gendered, with boys spending more time on sports and computer use (up to 106 minutes more in the UK), and girls spending more time socialising (up to 15 minutes more in South Korea).

As girls got older, their leisure time also generally decreased, which was not always the case for boys. In some countries, gender gaps in leisure time became particularly evident with age – by age 17, girls' general leisure in Korea and India decreases substantially relative to boys.

The authors argue that these findings support gender socialisation theory – the idea that children learn culturally expected masculine and feminine behaviours from parents, siblings, peers and their wider environment.

Consequently, boys may be encouraged towards competitive activities such as sport and gaming, while girls may be encouraged towards relational/social activities.

Dr Grace Chang explained the importance of these findings:

Leisure time isn’t simply ‘free time’. Leisure – particularly sport and exercise – is associated with adolescent health, well-being and development.

Therefore, girls having systematically less access to health-promoting leisure could contribute to longer-term inequalities. These findings are particularly concerning as girls’ participation in these activities further declines between ages 10 and 17.

Dr Grace Chang, Postdoctoral Research Officer

The authors conclude that these early gender gaps highlight the need for context-sensitive interventions to engage teenagers in health-promoting activities. Increasing access to facilities, public safety, and leisure infrastructure is essential to prevent inequalities from becoming entrenched and affecting long-term health and well-being.