License to Thrive

"Pay It Forward"

The New York Times citied studies by two economists providing the strongest evidence yet that team sports can result in lifelong improvements to educational, work and health prospects. 

One study, conducted by Dr. Betsey Stevenson, from the Wharton School of Business, examined variations of girls' sports participation on a state-by-state basis.  Her study showed that increasing girls’ sports participation had a direct effect on women’s education and employment. Dr. Stevenson attributed about 20 percent of the increase in women’s education and about 40 percent of the rise in employment for 25-to-34-year-old women to the changes resulting from the Title IX legislation.

In a separate study, Univ. of Illinois economic professor Robert Kaestner, compared obesity and physical activity levels for women who were in high school in the 1970's, right after the passage of the Title IX legislation in 1972, to women in high school prior to the passage of the legislation. He found that the increase in girls’ athletic participation caused by Title IX was associated with a 7 percent lower risk of obesity 20 to 25 years later, when women were in their late 30s and early 40s.