Socioeconomic status and barriers to swimming participation among children and adolescents: a systematic literature review

Journal of Educational and Learning Studies August 20, 2026 Volume 9, Number 1 2 authors

Abstract

Drowning has been and will continue to be a great source of preventable accidental injuries that people die of and swimming is one among many skills which are strongly linked to the person's level of socioeconomic status. The researchers of this systematic analysis have pooled the most updated pool of the world's knowledge on the topic of how socioeconomic factors influence swimming and water safety programmes for the water plus the reported ways of achieving a better equity. A review based on the methodology laid out by the PRISMA 2020 statement for systematic review and meta-analysis was chosen. In the review a structured Boolean search was used only on studies in the English language in the Scopus database from 2021-2026 period. Initially, 586 records were found and 15 were duplicates (the same paper). After several screening stages (i.e.title and abstract) against the set eligibility criterions, 18 papers were finally chosen for evaluation. Two evaluators independently assessed titles/abstracts and texts, while evaluating the agreement between them by the statistic of Cohen's kappa (κ = 0.91). The combination of search words employed ("socioeconomic status" OR "socioeconomic status") AND ("swimming" OR "aquatic") AND ("access" OR "participation" OR "barriers") resulted in the Boolean search string. Following the thematic analysis, it was carried out by using the coding method in six-phase inductive of Braun and Clarke. To be sure of coding reliability it was cross-checked between two reviewers. Papers have appeared from different authors of Australia (Australia), US, New Zealand, Israel, Belgium, Japan and Indonesia while study techniques employed include qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods. The analysis by themes found that socioeconomic status plays a role in one's ability to participate and swim lessons and the two main barriers are cost and the lack of availability. Also, the strategies to achieve equality that are most effective are price discounts, programmes delivered by schools, and programmes that are culturally sensitive. Research findings support the area of aquatic activity as well as equip decision-makers with concrete, equity-targeted ways. The research paper advocates longitudinal research on disadvantaged populations, an intersectional perspective, and establishing benchmarks on the measurement of accessibility.

Authors

  1. Naluri Denay

    Universitas Negeri Padang

  2. Pringgo Mardesia

    Universitas Negeri Padang

Keywords

Socioeconomic statusSwimming participationWater safetyDrowning preventionHealth equity

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