Lower socio-economic groups

At a glance

Significant disparities

Our Active Lives Adult Survey shows a significant disparity between different socio-economic groups and their engagement in sport and physical activity.

It found that people in lower socio-economic groups (LSEGs) are the most likely to be inactive (33%) and the least likely to be active (54%). And with nearly a third of the adult population in England - around 12 million people - in a LSEG, that is a significant number of people who could reap huge benefits from being more acitve.

A collaborative approach

We’re committed to reducing inactivity within LSEGs. We believe it’s important to understand the differing motivations and barriers for specific audiences when it comes to sport and physical activity, rather than a one size fits all approach responding to stereotypes.

Importantly, LSEGs cannot be thought of as one homogenous group of people. A complex backdrop of economic and health inequalities magnifies the impact of barriers to getting active felt by all, such as confidence or knowing where to go, through to cost, lack of time and appropriate opportunity. This is why there isn’t a single reason for inactivity among those in LSEGs.

That's why we believe a collaborative approach will address the fundamental issue of reducing inactivity within LSEGs. In practise, this means working in partnership with a variety of organisations across sectors who know and understand the specific audiences we want to target, including partners who we’ve traditionally not worked with.

By ensuring investments are research and evidence-based, we can help deliver more opportunities for people within LSEGs to get involved with sport and physical activity.

Daughter and granddaughter hugging grandfather

Our strategy - Uniting the Movement

Uniting the Movement, our 10-year strategy launched in 2021, is our plan to make being physically active a normal part of life for everyone in England – to make it easier for all of us as we go about our everyday lives.

Because currently, it’s not always a level playing field.

There are deep-rooted inequalities in sport and physical activity, which mean there are people who feel excluded from being active because the right options and opportunities aren’t there.

If you’re in a lower socioeconomic group (NS-SEC 6-8), you’re more likely to be inactive than people in higher social groups.

This inequality, as well as others, is at the very core of Uniting the Movement and we have a laser focus on tackling them in all that we do, because providing opportunities to people and communities that have traditionally been left behind, and helping to remove the barriers to activity, has never been more important

Learn more about our Uniting the Movement strategy

Research

Active Lives Adult Survey

Published twice a year, our Active Lives Adult Survey measures the activity levels of people across England.

The data from our May 18/19 survey revealed people in lower socio-economic groups are more likely to be inactive. To put that into context, around 12 million people – nearly a third of the adult population in England – fall within the broad definition of lower socio-economic groups.

The survey highlighted that people who are in routine/semi-routine jobs and those who are long term unemployed or have never worked (NS-SEC 6-8) are the most likely to be inactive (33%) and the least likely to be active (54%).

In contrast, people who are in managerial, administrative and professional occupations (NS-SEC 1-2) are the least likely to be inactive (16%) and the most likely to be active (72%).

These results show us that there’s still work to be done so that those from less affluent families can benefit from the positive impact of sport and physical activity. For more information and figures, visit the Active Lives page.

Active Lives surveys

Spotlight on Lower Socio-Economic Groups

Our Spotlight series lifts the lid on the results from our Active Lives Adult Survey.

People in LSEGs can’t be thought of as one homogenous group of people, and it’s not simply limited to those facing greater economic disadvantage.

Instead, it’s important to understand the diversity of LSEGs; be it their age, gender, ethnicity or whether they have a limiting disability. It includes people and families who sometimes or often struggle to make ends meet, and features people employed in both ‘routine’ and ‘semi-routine’ jobs.

For this reason, there isn’t a single factor causing inactivity among people in LSEGs. Our Spotlight on Lower Socio-Economic Groups research explores the interaction between being in a LSEG and other characteristics (disability, ethnicity and age), the statistics that lie behind them, and how to best meet this diverse audience’s needs.

Spotlight on lower socio-economic groups

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Further research

Research into engagement in sport and physical activity amongst LSEG communities is currently being conducted, with further research set to be published in early 2020.

Getting people in lower socio-economic groups active

Tackling Inactivity and Economic Disadvantage programme

Our Tackling Inactivity and Economic Disadvantage (TIED) programme is funding 35 projects to work with a diverse range of inactive people in different community settings.

The types of projects funded vary from late-night physical activity sessions for shift-workers in Manchester, to a programme of activity sessions at a women’s refuge charity in Yorkshire.

Find out more about TIED

Programme learnings

The projects funded by our Tackling Inactivity and Economic Disadvantage fund are giving valuable information into the way we can engage and encourage specific audiences within lower socio-economic groups to get active.

Though the projects are all different, we can see three common themes emerging – the importance of preparation, programme design, and long-term sustainability. These learnings are summarised below:

1. Preparation

Done correctly, preparation work can help you better understand and build trust with your community, identify existing assets that can be used within your project, and recognise barriers to participation and engagement.

An important aspect to this preparation work is in the development of your community network.

Recommendations include being consistent with your messaging, getting your face known to build trust with potential participants, and finding people and organisations within the community who already have that trust.

2. Programme design

We’ve found that successful projects take a flexible, open, friendly, and patient approach to programme design.

This begins with finding out what’s important to your community, prioritising it, and building physical activity sessions from that point. Give opportunity and flexibility to offer a range of activities, reacting to what your community is interested in, and allowing ownership and leadership by participants and the local community.

It’s a good idea to use a variety of marketing methods to reach and engage with people within your target audience to discover what works. Consider the language that you use – often we saw that the word ‘sport’ can put people off.

It’s important that sport and physical activity sessions are accessible and welcoming to all. Consider hosting sessions away from potentially intimidating settings (e.g. the gym) and providing readily-available information that explains what happens at a session (for example, with a video shared online) so budding participants know more about what to expect.

Having volunteers who are trusted members of the community welcoming people to the sessions is a good way to foster positivity and trust in sessions from the get-go. Equally, the key skills for coaches and session leaders should relate more to inter-personal skills and building trust than technical coaching ability.

Lastly, don’t be afraid to change things if something isn’t working – take a flexible approach and respond to what does and doesn’t work.

3. Sustainability

Enabling and empowering the local community to take ownership of programmes can really help to sustain and embed projects.

The use of local volunteers is key in developing trust and improving the chances of sustaining a project. Sometimes it only takes a small amount of money to start something that engages people, at which point it’s the local buy-in and support that keeps it going.

Be sure to provide opportunities for training and support for those who are interested in leading sessions or becoming volunteers, while continually empowering volunteers to help them support the project.

Lastly, we’ve found that short-term projects can create resentment or reinforce mistrust. This can sometimes be more damaging than no project at all. As a result, physical activity projects and sessions should, as far as possible, be ongoing and not limited to a short time period.

Although there may be common themes emerging, it’s important to remember that no two target groups are alike, and every project must find its own way. We know that achieving sustained success will rely on a joined-up approach between lots of different partners.

However, it’s equally important to note that time and patience are common requirements for everyone – it takes time to understand the community, build relationships, and to establish trust; it takes time to find the right people, to try different approaches and to understand why something is or isn’t working; and it takes time to create a sustainable project and to build a durable habit amongst those taking part.

Tools and resources

Small Grants programme

The Small Grants programme supports a wide range of projects that get communities more active, with grants of between £300 and £10,000.

Our priority is to fund activities that reach people and families who've not had the opportunities to be active that others have, such as those within lower socio-economic groups. This might be for a variety of reasons such as where they live, low income or low levels of confidence.

The programme supports projects that help everyone to take part in physical activity, regardless of their circumstances or background, and it looks to help organisations that want to remove barriers to participation.

For more information about the programme, click on the button below.