The hard decision to cut costs many Australian families are making for their children

Parents are reluctant to do it, but for many, the only way to get by during tough financial times is to cut children's sporting activities out of their budget.

Skye Moyes is among the parents having to explain to their children that while the cost of everything is going up, wages aren't. Source: SBS News

Key Points

• Skye Moyes is paying more for rent and groceries but not earning more, making finances tight.
• She won't enrol her sons in the sports they usually do in the second half of the year.
• Parents spend an average of $970 on sporting activities per child per year.

Skye Moyes' two sons love sport and have actively participated in multiple activities over the past couple of years.

But after an expensive few months amid the ongoing cost of living crisis, Ms Moyes has had to make a hard decision: no more sports for her children.

She is not alone. With the rising cost of living being felt across the country, many families are trying to reduce spending and cut costs.

Professor of Sport Participation at Victoria University and Federation University Rochelle Eime said current economic conditions had the potential to reduce children's participation in sport across Australia.

"With the rising cost of living, everyone's looking at their household budgets and obviously, things that are discretionary might take a cut," she said.

"I honestly think that people won't be playing multiple sports."

No more sport once the season is over

For Ms Moyes, the 2023 school year began with the usual back-to-school costs and paying $600 for her sons to take part in sporting activities.

"Tennis was $150 each, and that's for 10 lessons, and then AFL is $160 and swimming at school was straight up this year — one was $75 and the other one was $65," she said.

The single mum and part-time support worker from Yanchep in Perth's north said she also had to factor in the cost of sport uniforms.

Skye Moyes has decided she will not be enrolling her children to take part in their much-loved sports later this year as her budget just won't stretch. Source: Supplied

She said while her sons would continue to play tennis for the rest of the school term and the older one would play Aussie Rules for the season, she would not be registering them for boxing or football after that.

Ms Moyes said covering the cost of her sons' sports had been more of a challenge than usual this year.

She said the family's rent had increased in recent months and her fortnightly grocery shop had gone from about $300 to $500.

Across the country rents have increased, mortgage stress is growing as interest rates continue to go up, and inflation is at a 30-year high.

Ms Moyes said while having her sons participate in any out-of-school sports would stretch her budget, she was keen to give her children that opportunity.

"Just for them to get physical and healthy, and also for the sportsmanship side of it too," she said.

Ms Moyes said her sons were aware that money was tight, but it was still hard to break the news to them.

"I just explained to them, unfortunately, everything's gone up but mummy's pay has not," she said.

Rates of sport participation

Professor Eime said analysis of sport participation records in Victoria had shown a lag in children — especially girls — returning to sport after interruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and this was likely to only be exacerbated by financial pressures.

Figures based on sports participation in Victoria showed about 60 per cent of children played sports outside of school, she said.

Participation is highest from five to 14 years old, and higher in regional areas than in metropolitan areas.

Professor of sport science at Victoria University and Federation University Rochelle Eime says as families look to cut discretionary spending, children's sport activities could be dropped. Source: Supplied

Professor Eime said those in "growth corridors" of cities, with lower socioeconomic areas and sometimes consisting of a higher number of new migrants, were often less likely to play sports.

"Those areas that are lower socioeconomic status have much lower participation in sport than those in wealthier suburbs," she said.

Professor Eime said participation in sports was important for children's social and mental health and wellbeing.

"That connectedness with others has huge impacts on their health," she said.

"We've done some studies looking at kids that have played sport and those that have dropped out and those that have played sports still have much significantly higher health and wellbeing.

"They learn a lot of those lifelong lessons you don't get in the classroom or in other ways."

The cost of play

The average amount parents spend on sporting activities per child per year is $970, according to data from the Australian Sports Commission.

One of the most frequently reported barriers to participation in sport across the country was cost, according to the commission's National Sport and Physical Activity Participation Report released in November 2022.

Participation information showed swimming was the most popular sport for children aged up to 11. Football was the top choice for boys aged between 12 and 14, while for girls in that age bracket it was netball.

Subsidies for children to play

Ms Moyes said she used a state government KidSport voucher to pay for part of the cost of her eldest son's AFL fees.

The $150 voucher available to those in WA considered to be on low incomes, can be used towards registration fees for certain sporting clubs.

Ms Moyes said she was only able to redeem the subsidy for her older child who plays AFL, as the tennis lessons for her younger son were not covered by it.

Similar subsidies are available in other states, including the Active Kids voucher in NSW and the Get Active Kids voucher in Victoria.

Making sport accessible

When Perth mother-of two Liz Sheehan tweeted about how much it would cost for her eight-year-old son to play football this season, she was surprised to hear from others that they were paying up to $450 for their children to play the game.

While Ms Sheehan said she and her husband could afford to have their children play sport this year, she did feel for those who had to make the hard decision not to register.

"I did stop and think 'can I afford it this fortnight? How are low-income people affording this?'" she said.

Professor Eime said sporting organisations should look at ways to reduce costs to families so more children could take part.

"We need to look at what I call the 'little levers' — the things that we can change to make it more accessible," she said.

"It's not just about membership costs, there's lots of other ways we can minimise costs — repurposing uniforms, for example. Have team and club-based uniforms, rather than individuals purchasing new tops when they've grown out of them."

Professor Eime urged parents to shop around for sports for their children.

"Team sports are generally much cheaper because they're often run by volunteers," she said.

"Those activities that are sort of run by product providers, such as dance schools, are much more expensive because they're commercial operations and often have more indoor infrastructure that needs to be paid for."

Professor Eime said costs often varied dramatically between sporting clubs.

"It sometimes comes down to different leases that the club might have on the infrastructure," she said. "Sometimes clubs will want to upgrade their facilities and then they might just bump up the price and they don't realise that's putting a lot of people off because they just can't afford it."