Report Shows Saskatchewan Citizens Spend Less Time on Leisure and Culture
In this issue
Engage - Volume 10, Issue 1, Winter 2019
The Saskatchewan Index of Wellbeing (SIW): How are Residents of Saskatchewan Really doing? is a report by the Canadian Index of Wellbeing, released in partnership with Heritage Saskatchewan and the Community Initiatives Fund.
Some results from the report paints an interesting picture of wellbeing throughout the province.
According to this report, there has been an increase in education, living standards, and community vitality. However, it also measures a decrease in leisure and culture over the last 20 years. This means there has been “less time socializing with others, fewer hours committed to volunteering for culture and recreation, shorter vacation trips and reduced spending of household income on culture and recreation opportunities”.
Some of the noted changes in Leisure and Culture include:
A substantial drop in arts and culture participation over past 20 years, but it has been on the rebound since 2012, with it currently sitting at 7.4 per cent above the Canadian average of 4.3 per cent.
A 34.3 per cent overall drop in hours volunteering per year for culture and recreation organizations in Saskatchewan; yet, average hours volunteering (49.8 per cent) is still slightly higher than the national average (48 per cent);
Time spent socializing with friends slipped by 40 per cent; back in 1994 people spent 18.6 per cent of a day socializing, and by 2014, this amount had slipped to 11.6 per cent and on the positive side,
Attendance at performing arts events, and levels of physical activity, have grown over the past 20 years.
These indicators suggest some deterioration in the amount of time available for activities that help provide us with a sense of who we are as a people and reinforce our sense of belonging to our community. For more information, read the full report on Heritage Saskatchewan’s website at www.heritagesask.ca.