August 2014 - Parks & Recreation - 75

The Disappearing Youth Discount: Does It Matter?
By John L. Crompton

rior to 1980, the norm among park and recreation agencies was to give
a " half price for children " discount to all those under 18, in essence,
through high school. Subsequent pressures to generate more revenue
have meant that these parameters survive in relatively few jurisdictions today.
Their erosion follows the aggressive actions of commercially themed parks
and waterparks, which typically limit free admissions to those under 3; give 10
percent discounts to children aged 3 to 8 or 10; and charge full adult price for
all those older than age 8 or 10. Their actions have made it easier for public
park and recreation agencies to reduce the eligibility age and discount amount,
because they have changed the reference price expectancy of many.
Ironically, the demise of youth
discounts has coincided with a substantial deterioration in the economic
status of youth. In 2011, 18.5 percent
of young people under the age of
18 - about 13.5 million individuals
- lived in households with incomes
below the federal poverty level. The
family is the chief source of their support, followed by government programs such as education and welfare.
The deteriorating economic status of
children reflects both an erosion of
support from within the family and a
lack of political support for government expenditures on them.
The Impact of Single-Parent Families
In the past half-century, an earthquake
has shaken the family structure and
fractured it. The deterioration of children's economic well-being has been a
consequence of this. In 1960, only nine
percent of children were living with a
single parent, but by 2012, this number
increased to 29 percent. A large majority of these households are headed by
women, and a substantial proportion
of fathers accept little or no enduring
responsibility for those children.
An increase in the number of single-parent families primarily reflects

dramatic growth in the proportion
of children born to nonmarried parents. When the War on Poverty was
launched in the 1960s, only six percent of U.S. children were born out
of wedlock, but by 2010 this had increased to almost 41 percent of all
births. Further, among those children born to married couples, some
will experience parental separation
through divorce, which exacerbates
children's economic challenges. Divorce rates have remained consistent during the past four decades.
The probability that a first marriage
will end in divorce before the 10th
wedding anniversary is 30 percent
for men and 32 percent for women.

This increases to 44 percent and 48
percent, respectively, by the 20th anniversary.
The negative relationship between
single-family homes and child poverty is shown in the table below. It illustrates that children under 18 living
in families headed by single mothers
with no spouse present are especially
at risk of being poor. In 2010, 23 percent of children lived in female-headed families, but the table shows that
children in such families accounted
for 53.5 percent of all children.
Lack of Support from Government
Support for youth from government
agencies is relatively low, especially when compared to that given to
the elderly. In 2011, the share of the
federal budget allocated to children
was 10.4 percent. In contrast, 41
percent was allocated to the elderly.
Public spending per child on federal
and state programs averaged $11,300
during the course of a year. For seniors, it was $24,800 per person.
The political constituency for children is relatively weak. Obviously,

Table 1: Family Living Arrangements:
Where Poor Children Live, 2009
Married-couple families

35.3%

Never married, female head

29.5%

Separated, spouse absent, female head

12.1%

Divorced female head

10.6%

Widowed female head

1.3%

Male-headed families, spouse absent

7.0%

Live apart from parents with other relatives

4.2%

Source: Gabe T. (2011) Welfare, work and poverty status of female-headed families with
children 1987-2009. Washington D.C.: Congressional Research Service.

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