The social, cultural and economic significance of leisure is increasing around the world. Watching television, reading, socializing with friends and family, playing sport, attending entertainment, arts and sporting events, and visiting the coast, the countryside, historic sites, museums, galleries and exhibitions are important aspects of modern life, and providing for these activities is an increasingly significant feature of modern economies. In most developed countries nationwide surveys are conducted periodically to assess levels of participation in leisure activities.

This book brings together the results of such surveys from thirteen different countries, namely: Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, Poland, Spain and the USA. While the surveys vary enormously in scope, methodology, scale and timing, making it difficult to compare leisure patterns directly, they nevertheless indicate some marked similarities in leisure participation in industrial societies in the "global village". The book provides a unique reference source on patterns of leisure participation in the 13 countries, and also examines the methodological problems of conducting national leisure participation surveys, and their future prospects.