Title:
USE OF FREE TIME BY YOUNG PEOPLE,AND SOCIAL INCLUSION AND EXCLUSION IN LEBANON

Authors:
Ken Roberts, Siyka Kovacheva

Abstract:
Our research develops an innovative way of measuring leisure participation. We use these measurements to address questions about leisure-effects derived mainly from Western leisure research. Does Western knowledge hold true among young people in Lebanon? This is a mainly Arab, coastal East Mediterranean country, sometimes referred to as the Levant, the gateway to the Middle-East. We also seek substantive differences between Western and Lebanese youth leisure. We also identify the socio-demographic group among Lebanese youth who can be described as social excluded in their free time. This group is not those in precarious jobs or unemployed, but young women who are inactive in the labour market and have exceptionally low rates of participation in all types of free time activities except time spent online and watching television.