Play England (2010)

The objective of this research was to generate economic evidence of the benefits of staffed play provision. Two specific forms of play provision were evaluated: adventure playgrounds and after school play clubs.

The economic value of these forms of play provision was assessed by undertaking cost-benefit analysis (CBA). The CBA compared the costs of providing the interventions with their benefits in terms of health and educational outcomes.

The CBA answered the following two questions:

• What is the economic value (£) of an adventure playground, compared with no playground?
• What is the economic value (£) of an after school club staffed with qualified play personnel, compared with an after school play club not staffed with qualified play personnel?

The research adopted the following stages:

• A review of the evidence available to estimate the benefits of staffed play provision.
• Interviews with experts to validate the evidence found and fill in gaps in the data. 
• The construction of decision models to link the short term effects on children to medium and longer term benefits measured in terms of adults’ educational and health outcomes.