By: Liam Hanson

The last month has been the busiest in a summer of sport, with the European Championship final, Wimbledon final and start of the Olympics all taking place. After the last 18 months, crowding round a TV in a friend’s living room, standing on your tip-toes to get a view of the screen in a busy pub, or even sitting in a packed stadium has been an emotional relief for many – even if results haven’t always gone the way we wanted (that is the only reference I will make to the Euros heartbreak I promise).

It’s well documented that participating in sport can have huge benefits for mental and physical wellbeing. For example, people who are physically active are 30% less likely to develop depression (1) and, according to our research with The Business School at City University London, sport can even help you live up to 13% longer.(2)

It’s also never too late to start experiencing the benefits of sport. Research has shown that people who increased activity levels between the age of 50 and 60 lived as long as those who were already exercising regularly in middle age.(3)

But not everyone has access to these benefits

Many people continue to be excluded from the benefits of sport. For example, women are 3% less likely to be physically active than men.(4) People aged 55-74 are also 8% less likely to be active than those aged 16-34 – and this gap increases to 30% for people aged 75+.(5)

Older women therefore face a double whammy of intersecting exclusion from sport – leading to a third not meeting the recommended 150 minutes per week of exercise, and a fifth not exercising for even 30 minutes a week.(6) This may go some of the way towards explaining why older women tend to rank themselves lower than men on several measures of wellbeing, such as self-rated health, satisfaction with life, happiness and even will-to-live.(7)

The pandemic has made a bad situation worse. Activity levels had been growing steadily amongst those aged 55-74 and 75+ before COVID.(8) But in the last 18 months, many of these gains were lost. While activity levels dropped for people of all ages and genders, women and older people have taken the longest to recover.(9)

Why is this the case?

This gap certainly isn’t down to choice. According to research by Women in Sport, 84% of women who are inactive wanted to be more active.(10) So why aren’t they?

One of the most commonly cited reasons among women for not taking part in sport is a self-belief in not being “the sporty type” – often perceived as young and slim. In fact, women are twice as likely as men to hold this belief.(11) Because of this perception, many women avoid exercise for fear of being ridiculed or embarrassing themselves by not being able to keep up with everyone else. As women get older, often their confidence diminishes further as they start to believe it’s too late to start any new physical activity.(12)

Some women decide as early as primary school that they aren’t the sporty type and keep this perception throughout their lives. But where does this perception come from? Well, it comes from the kinds of people women are subconsciously presented with in sports advertising, marketing and media.

The Nike advert below is an interesting example of this. It commendably showcases a diverse range of athletes from different ethnicities and genders, and even manages to represent the LGBTQ+ community through an athlete holding rainbow-coloured flairs. But where are the older people? Everyone in the video appears younger and most are slim. Once again, ageism remains the last acceptable “ism”.

There are also practical barriers to physical activity for older women. Put simply, exercise is time consuming and women on average have less spare time. According to a US study, 70% of primary caregivers are female.(13) Many women continue this caregiving role into later life, often through grandparenting.

Caring responsibilities are extremely time consuming. According to research by Aviva, nearly half of all carers have a maximum of four hours to themselves per week – less than 35 minutes a day,(14) which doesn’t leave much time for exercise.

Why should we care?

Encouraging physical activity isn’t just about improving quality of life, but also has a tangible economic benefit – what we call the “longevity dividend”.

Older people in good health are more likely to be in work, volunteer often, and spend more.(15) In fact, our research has found supporting more older people to spend could add 8% a year to GDP by 2040, while getting more involuntarily unemployed older adults into work could increase GDP by 1.3% a year in the same time frame.(16)

There is therefore a strong economic argument for investing in preventative interventions, like physical activity, which boost health and wellbeing throughout the life course.

What needs to be happen next?

To challenge the perception of the sporty type, women of all ages need to see more people like them taking part in sport. The video below from the This Girl Can campaign is a good example of this. It shows physically active women of all ages and physiques – and even features one woman combining sport and her caring responsibilities.

However, it’s important that we consider who this video is coming from, and who it’s likely to reach. This Girl Can is a campaigning organisation solely dedicated to encouraging physical activity among women. And so you could question whether it is simply reaching audience already engaged on the issue of female exclusion from sport. What we need is more people that women of all ages can relate to in commercial sports advertising and marketing campaigns. That is what will drive change among the general public.

Elite sport also has a part to play in the way we perceive sport. The 2021 Tokyo Olympics has been branded the “most gender equal Games of all time”, as for the first time there has been a nearly 50/50 split between male and female athletes.(17) Also for the first time, the majority of the UK’s team is female. Equally important to participation is media coverage, which in many ways has made encouraging progress. For example, NBC in America has covered the women’s events almost twice as much as the men’s.(18) This equity sends out the message that sport is as much (or even more) for women as it is for men.

But the Games have not been without issues. Take the example of the Norwegian handball team being fined for wearing shorts instead of a bikini, or the fact that only 25% of board positions in the International Paralympic Committee are held by women and that the organisation has never had a female president.(19) What message does this send to women? That they are only valued in sport as long as they are able to be sexualised? That they are equal enough to take part in sport, but not to make the decisions that govern it?

The 2022 UEFA Women’s Championships is a perfect opportunity to build on the progress of the Games and raise the profile of elite women’s sport even further. Football is the fastest growing sport among women, and has become the most popular sport among this demographic. Similarly to the Olympics, alongside increasing participation, attendance and media coverage for women’s football has been growing competition after competition.

But again, issues remain. The Championships were supposed to be this summer, but were moved to make way for the men’s competition, which was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This happened without much coverage or protest. Would the same have been true if it had been the men’s competition being moved? Would it have ever been moved in the first place?

The question also remains as to whether gender equality among elite professional athletes translates into equality in your local gym, swimming pool or tennis court. Once again, the athletes we see taking part in these sports are most often young and slim, and so we can’t assume that their increasing visibility will encourage participation among older women.

Thankfully, there are some very simple ways that can directly impact participation among this demographic. Several studies have found separating exercise spaces, such as gyms and parks, into smaller spaces encourages more women to use them.(20) Women are also more likely than men to exercise at home and to benefit more from flexible classes that can be fitted around caring responsibilities.(21)

But none of these changes will matter if Government and employers don’t address the underlying barriers to female participation in sport stemming from their disproportionate burden of care. Flexible working, paid carers’ leave, and free childcare provision are just some of the ways that women with caring responsibilities can be supported to have more free time for sport.

Yes, some of these solutions may be costly, but implementing them will not only benefit the health and wellbeing of over half our population, but could unlock a significant longevity dividend for the UK economy.

I’ll leave you with the reassurance that football really is coming home next summer – this time I’m sure… I think.

References

1. Women in Sport (2021). Inspiring Women to be Active During Midlife and Menopause. Available at: https://www.womeninsport.org/research-and-advice/our-publications/inspiring-women-to-be-active-during-midlife-and-menopause/
2. International Longevity Centre UK. (2021). The longevity of sporting legends. Available at: https://ilcuk.org.uk/the-longevity-of-sporting-legends/
3. International Longevity Centre UK (2013). Has the sisterhood forgotten older women? Available at: https://ilcuk.org.uk/has-the-sisterhood-forgotten-older-women/
4. Sport England (2021). Active Lives Adult Survey November 2019/20 Report. Available at: https://sportengland-production-files.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/2021-04/Active%20Lives%20Adult%20November%202019-20%20Report.pdf?VersionId=OjWdwCLnI3dNgDwp3X4ukcODJIDVG7Kd
5. Sport England (2021). Active Lives Adult Survey November 2019/20 Report. Available at: https://sportengland-production-files.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/2021-04/Active%20Lives%20Adult%20November%202019-20%20Report.pdf?VersionId=OjWdwCLnI3dNgDwp3X4ukcODJIDVG7Kd
6. Women in Sport (2020). Lockdown Research – Implications for Women’s Participation. Available at: https://www.womeninsport.org/research-and-advice/our-publications/lockdown/
7. Carmel, Sara (2019). Health and Well-Being in Late Life: Gender Differences Worldwide. Frontiers in Medicine 6 (218). Available at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmed.2019.00218/full
8. Sport England (2021). Active Lives Adult Survey November 2019/20 Report. Available at: https://sportengland-production-files.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/2021-04/Active%20Lives%20Adult%20November%202019-20%20Report.pdf?VersionId=OjWdwCLnI3dNgDwp3X4ukcODJIDVG7Kd
9. Sport England (2021). Active Lives Adult Survey November 2019/20 Report. Available at: https://sportengland-production-files.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/2021-04/Active%20Lives%20Adult%20November%202019-20%20Report.pdf?VersionId=OjWdwCLnI3dNgDwp3X4ukcODJIDVG7Kd
10. Women in Sport (2021). Inspiring Women to be Active During Midlife and Menopause. Available at: https://www.womeninsport.org/research-and-advice/our-publications/inspiring-women-to-be-active-during-midlife-and-menopause/
11. International Longevity Centre UK (2013). Has the sisterhood forgotten older women? Available at: https://ilcuk.org.uk/has-the-sisterhood-forgotten-older-women/
12. Women in Sport (2021). Inspiring Women to be Active During Midlife and Menopause. Available at: https://www.womeninsport.org/research-and-advice/our-publications/inspiring-women-to-be-active-during-midlife-and-menopause/
13. Carmel, Sara (2019). Health and Well-Being in Late Life: Gender Differences Worldwide. Frontiers in Medicine. 6 (218). Available at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmed.2019.00218/full
14. Aviva (2019). Half of ‘sandwich generation’ have under 35 minutes a day to themselves. Available at: https://www.aviva.com/newsroom/news-releases/2019/04/half-of-sandwich-adults-have-under-35-minutes-a-day-to-themselves/
15. International Longevity Centre UK (2020). Health equals wealth: The global longevity dividend. Available at: https://ilcuk.org.uk/healthequalswealth/
16. International Longevity Centre UK (2020). Maximising the longevity dividend. Available at: https://ilcuk.org.uk/maximising-the-longevity-dividend/
17. CBC (2021). Tokyo Games mark an Olympic first for equal gender participation. Available at: https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/summer/tokyo-2020-equal-gender-participation-1.6110907
18. The Conversation (2021). The Tokyo Olympics are billed as the first gender equal Games, but women still lack opportunities in sport. Available at: https://theconversation.com/the-tokyo-olympics-are-billed-as-the-first-gender-equal-games-but-women-still-lack-opportunities-in-sport-165280
19. The Conversation (2021). The Tokyo Olympics are billed as the first gender equal Games, but women still lack opportunities in sport. Available at: https://theconversation.com/the-tokyo-olympics-are-billed-as-the-first-gender-equal-games-but-women-still-lack-opportunities-in-sport-165280
20. Criado Perez, C. (2020). Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men. Vintage, London
21. Criado Perez, C. (2020). Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men. Vintage, London