A raft of forecasts has been made in recent decades, predicting the decline in the number of working hours coupled with a consequent increase in leisure time. It was estimated that the leisure revolution would take place by the turn of the last century with hours devoted to work falling to 25-30 per week. This reduction has failed of materialize, but the revolution has, nonetheless arrived.
Over the past 30 to 40 years spending on leisure has witnessed a strong increase. According to the annual family expenditure survey published in 1999 by the office for national  statistics, the average household in the United Kingdom spent more on leisure than food, housing and transport for set to continue upwards well into the present century.
The survey based on a sample of 6,500 household showed, that the days are long gone when the average family struggle to buy basic foods. As recently as 1960, family spending on food was approximately one third compared to 17% now. Twelve years later, there was a noticeable shift towards leisure with the percentage of household spending on leisure increasing to 9% and that on food declining to 26%.
The average household income on theUKin 1999 was 460 per week before tax and average spending  was 352.20. Of the later sum, 59.70 was spent on leisure and 58.90 on food. On holidays alone, family expenditure was 6% while in 1969 the proportion spent on holidays was just 2%. And whereas the richest 10% lashed out 20% of their income on 1999 on leisure, the poorest spent 12%.
Among the professional and managerial classes, working hours have increased and overall in the economy, record numbers of people are in employment. As people work more, the appetite for leisure activities has grown to compensate for the greater stress in life. The past 5 years alone have seen the leisure business expand by 25% with a change in emphasis to short domestic week-end breaks and long-haul short breaks to exotic destination in place of long holidays. In the future, it is expected that people will jump from one leisure activity to another in complexes catering for everyone’s need with gyms, cinemas, cafes, restaurants, bar and internet facilities all under one roof. The leisure complexes of today will expand to house all the leisure facilities required for the leisure age.
Other factors fueling demand for leisure activities are rising prosperity, increasing longevity and a more active elderly population. Hence, at the forefront of leisure spending are not just the young or the professional classes. The 1999 family expenditure survey showed that the 64 to 75 year-old group spend a higher proportion of their income on leisure than any other age group. The strength of the ‘grey pound’ now means that elderly people are able to command more respect and thus attention in the leisure market.
And the future? It is anticipated that in the years to come, leisure spending will account for between a third to a half of all household spending, whilst it is difficult to give exact figures, the leisure industry will certainly experience a long period of sustained growth. Working hours are not expected to decrease party because the 24-hour society will need to be serviced; and secondly, because more people will be needed to keep the service/leisure industries running.In the coming decades, the pace of change will accelerate generating greater wealth at a faster rate that even before. Surveys show that this is already happening in many parts ofEurope. The south-east ofEngland, for example, is now supposedly the richest area in the EEC. The ‘leisure pound’ is one of the driving forces behind this surge. But, sadly, it does not look as if we will have the long leisure hours that we had all been promised.