Social costs of poverty; leisure time socializing and the subjective experience of social isolation among 13–16-year-old Norwegians

Abstract

The article examines leisure time socializing and the subjective experience of social isolation among Norwegian 13–16-year-olds in poor families. The empirical analyses use data from a representative survey in Norway in 2002 and show the likelihood of participation in leisure time socializing with peers to be lower among 13–16-year-olds in poor families than among adolescents in more affluent families. The effect of living in a poor family is stronger for structured (organized activities) and semi-structured (home-based) socializing. Hence, poor adolescents may be particularly vulnerable to missing out on experiences and contacts accessed through these arenas. Moreover, adolescents reporting their family to be poor more often perceive themselves as unpopular and as lacking close friends. The lower rate of participation in social leisure time activities, however, could not explain the increased risk of these adolescents experiencing themselves as socially isolated. Thus, the findings point toward more intricate processes of shame and stigmatization through which poverty may affect adolescents' subjective feelings of social isolation.