The number of women playing sport is stagnating, in spite of the rising prominence of women’s sports in the country. New research from Yonder suggests that there may be more to improving participation than simply ensuring events are broadcasted, or elite athletes are celebrated on equal terms with men.

Yonder spoke to more than 2,000 adults across the UK, as well as 21 in-depth interviews with sports sector experts, and eight in-depth converstaions with members of the public. The consultants found that across the board, participation in sports was still lagging among women across the country.

While national polling suggests that around 63% of the population engages in some form of sport annually, the figures are much lower for both men and women on a more regular basis. Examining eight popular forms of exercise, the researchers found that football – the most popular activity – was only engaged in by 20% of men at least on a monthly basis, and only 12% weekly. But for women, that fell to a total of 5%, with just 2% playing weekly.

Source: Yonder

This defecit was consistent through every form of sport, with the narrowest margins coming in swimming and netball. There, the difference narrowed to just 2%, but still saw women less likely to take up regular sporting activities than men.

The researchers noted that this is not exclusively an issue in the UK. A 2022 Eurobarometer survey found that, across the 27 EU Member States, women were consistently less active than men, with 40% of men claiming they “never” exercised or played sport, compared with 49% of women. While it might not just be the UK where the participatory gap remains wide, however, Yonder’s findings come on the heels of a number of presigious triumphs for women in UK sport, which have each been touted as an opportunity to encourage participation. 

The Lionesses’ victory at the UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 tournament consumed headlines in 2022, and in 2023 the team reached a historic World Cup Final – narrowly missing out on the top prize to a talented Spain side. At the same time, Emma Raducanu’s 2021 US Open triumph ended Britain’s 44-year wait for a woman representing it to win a Grand Slam tournament – something which also earned her a coveted BBC Sports Personality award. But despite these momentous success stories, simply seeing role-models succeed on courts, pitches and on television has not been the magic bullet it is often painted as. Women playing football fell by 4% between 2019 and 2023, while Yonder found an 8% fall in women playing tennis monthly.

Source: Yonder

Yonder’s conclusion involves a number of suggestions to turn the situation around. However, they still largely revolve around tackling taboos, addressing stereotypes, and encouraging participation via government campaigns, or organisations and venues finding ways to advertise to women more effectively.

Historically, women have been marginalised or banned from sport (there were 150 women’s teams playing football to crowds across England, before the FA imposed a 50-year ban on the sport in 1921), something which still holds back participation to an extent. For example, Yonder found that while 62% of all respondents feel football is now equally for men and women, 38% said it was “more for men”. But even so, decline in uptake even on that front, suggests that there is more at play than overcoming that cultural baggage.

Amid the cost-of-living crisis, sport has become less accessible for millions of people in the UK. That is particularly the case for famously expensive individual pursuits such as tennis. While many people are being priced out of sport in this regard, the UK has also seen more than a decade of austerity decimate its education services – resulting in Britain having 7,000 fewer PE teachers than when London hosted the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics. With 30% of children now doing less than 30 minutes of any physical activity, including walking, a day, efforts encouraging more women into sport may remain hobbled, as long as the emphasis remains on encouraging individual choices, and not the systemic factors which act as barriers to those choices.