ABSTRACT
Spending on leisure in Britain is now worth over £70 billion a year. Unevenly spread, subject to all the continuing inequalities of class, race, gender and geography, nevertheless in total there is more free time and more money to spend on enjoying it than ever before. Much critical thinking in the past has concentrated on inequalities at work, in housing, in education, in life chances; it is now time to think about how we address the problem of inequalities in a world of seeming abundance and free choice. What is the leisure boom really all about?
