Defining leisure from the perspectives of working women: How do full-time working women define and characterize their leisure lifestyle?

Leisure provides comfort and consistency for individuals who have many responsibilities and challenges in their lives (Parry & Shaw, 1999). However, people cannot experience the benefits of leisure if they do not have access to it. Working women face many barriers when it comes to partaking in leisure experiences (Eroğlu & Özsoy, 2017). The purpose of this study was to explore how full-time working women defined leisure and the characteristics of their leisure lifestyle. Research methods included a quantitative online survey administered through SurveyPlanet. Sixty-two Canadian women between the ages of 18-55+ participated as research participants. Findings included women’s definition of leisure as a time to relax; six common types of leisure pursuits; and domestic duties as barriers to leisure involvement. Recreation Therapists should use women’s definitions of leisure to guide their interventions in order to provide meaningful, gender-based leisure opportunities.