Indicator: 47 - Parents' Satisfaction With Youth Recreational Programs

Why This Is Important

An important part of healthy physical and social development for children is opportunities to play. Community-based recreational programs are a vital resource for families who desire to provide this type of structured recreational opportunity for their children.
 

Where We Stand

Parents who had children under the age of 18 were asked “How much do you agree or disagree with the following statement: I am satisfied with youth recreational programs in my community?” About two-thirds of the respondents “agreed” or “strongly agreed” with that statement in the last two years, with the percentage in agreement apparently dropping somewhat from 2000 to 2001.

Data Sources and Context

Maine data for this indicator comes from the Maine Development Foundation 2000 and 2001 Surveys of Maine Citizens. The 2000 Survey was conducted in September 2000 by Market Decisions, Inc.; the 2001 Survey was done between August 20 and September 6, 2001, by Strategic Marketing Services. In both years a randomly selected statewide sample of 601 households was interviewed by telephone. Special effort was made to include an adequate number of parents with children living primarily at home (401 in 2000, and 425 in 2001), so their responses are representative of all parents in Maine. However, because the number of parents in each of the income groups in the chart is comparatively small (especially for households with income below $15,000), those results are not necessarily representative of all parents in those income groups in Maine. The survey data are available on-line at http://mdf.org.  The Survey was not conducted in 2002; the Foundation intends to administer the next Survey in time for results to be included in the Maine Economic Growth Council’s publication of Measures of Growth 2004.