Children’s sport opportunities and parental support in single-parent families with a lower socio-economic status. An ecological perspective

Single parents tend to face particular challenges in supporting their children’s sport activity. Informed by an ecological perspective, a qualitative interview study was conducted to get an in-depth understanding about how barriers and facilitators shape children’s sport opportunities in Swiss single-parent families with lower socio-economic status (SES). In order to estimate the extent to which situations are specific to lower SES single parents, they were contrasted with lower SES two-parent families. Semi-structured interviews with six single parents and five parents from two-parent families were conducted. The findings indicate that lower SES single parents are far more likely to perceive restrictions of parental support in comparison to interviewees from two-parent families. A lack of financial means and a lack of time due to work responsibilities were often found to significantly restrict children’s sport opportunities. At the same time, a case-wise analysis revealed great differences among single-parent families, which resulted from a complex interplay of various ecological factors. Barriers and facilitators were identified on the individual level (e.g. parental sport-related beliefs, parental physical health, and children’s interest in sport activities), the family level (e.g. the presence of siblings), the meso level (e.g. social support for single parents), and the macro level (e.g. sport opportunities in proximity to the family’s home). The results of this study are of relevance to (sport) political actors.