2000年以降のスポーツ参加者の推移と変動：

2002年から2012年までの社会調査データの二次分析を通じて

抄録

　The purpose of this study was to examine whether socioeconomic inequality among Japanese sports participants changed between 2002 and 2012, a period corresponding to a boom in sports participation. Previous studies have focused on three main socio-economic factors related to sports participation: economic status, educational attainment, and occupational status. Focusing on these main factors, a quantitative analysis of Japanese General Social Survey data collected between 2002 and 2012 was conducted. First, the whole sample was analyzed to investigate the time trends in economic condition, educational attainment, and occupational condition that impacted on sports participation. The results suggested that individuals with a better economic status, those with higher educational attainment, and non-workers (house workers and retirees) were more likely to participate in sport. However, the sports participation gap between workers and non-workers was found to have increased in this 10-year period for both females and males. Furthermore, only for females, those with lower economic status and low educational attainment appeared to participate more in sports during this period. The analysis then focused on workers to clarify their sports participation, and this revealed differences in the rate of sports participation even if economic status and working hours were controlled for. In particular, those who worked for larger companies or government and municipality offices, those who were self-employed, and those whose jobs gave them higher social status were more inclined to participate in sports. Previous researchers had considered that economic status and working hours were the main factors causing unequal sports participation among different types of occupation. However, the present study revealed that the sports participation rate differed even when economic status and working hours were controlled for, suggesting that other factors may affect sports participation. This research that the main reason for the increase in sports participation in the 10 years from 2002 was that non-workers became more likely to participate, and that females in lower economic groups or with lower educational attainment increased their sports participation. On the other hand, the population of workers engaged in sports did not change during this period, and occupational characteristics had a considerable impact. Finally, the limitations of this research and future directions were discussed.