Age of Forum Users

How old are you?

  • 15-25

    Votes: 27 13.3%
  • 25-35

    Votes: 35 17.2%
  • 35-45

    Votes: 32 15.8%
  • 45-60

    Votes: 62 30.5%
  • Over 60

    Votes: 47 23.2%

  • Total voters
    203

mrodoc

Well-known member
Perodically I wonder about the demographics of forum users.  The average age of my digging group is well over 60 at present. British caving would be in a parlous state if this was the status quo so let's see what age group primarily uses this forum. Potential advertisers might find this information useful eg Saga ;)
 

NewStuff

New member
Without getting all political -

A lot of young people simply CBA with the faff. Certain "old ways" involve faff, ergo, less young people to repalce those retiring, losing interest ot shuffling off this mortal coil. Things in some places are moving in the right direction to combat this.

I suspect this poll will look like a pyramid chopped in half.
 

PeteHall

Moderator
It is often suggested that the demographic of cavers is getting older, which is precisely why the BCA has started asking for date (year?) of birth for members. Obviously it will be a long time before we can start to see any pattern, but you have to start somewhere.

If I remember correctly, there was some scepticism about how many would be happy to give this info, but I believe there has been a reasonable response so far. I'm sure someone will have a more accurate figure for the response rate, but no idea if there are any published figures for the current age demographic yet...
 

kay

Well-known member
Next question is - does the age profile of this forum depend on the age profile of cavers, or on the age profile of people who use this type of forum? (What does ukc look like on a smart phone?) .  At one extreme, cavers may be spread among all age groups, but only old cavers post here; of it could be that cavers are in general old and this forum reflects that. Or anything in between.
 

cap n chris

Well-known member
Define a caver. Remember that tens of thousands of under 18s cave every year, but they don't exist within clubs or BCA.
 

Badlad

Administrator
Staff member
I have been concerned for some time that the caver demographic is ageing.  Numbers of cavers, as in club and BCA members, seems fairly consistent but anecdotal evidence suggests that there are far fewer active cavers than in the 80's and 90's for example.  The analysis of the age stats of the BCA membership supported this observation.

The median age of the membership was 49.

Members in their fifties were the largest group - considerably larger than those in their 20's or 30's.

18% of the membership is over 65.

However you view these figures it is obvious that caving needs to do more to encourage younger cavers into the sport.
 

PaulW

Member
Cap'n Chris said:
Define a caver. Remember that tens of thousands of under 18s cave every year, but they don't exist within clubs or BCA.

Erm yes they do

we took 5 U18 club members caving last month on a trip specifically for them

The BCA has a membership category of 'student / under 18'
 

SamT

Moderator
Its very hard to determine.

I reckon BCA membership is going to be skewd towards an older demographic.  It takes a while for younger folk to be arsed about joining clubs etc, let alone paying their BCA membership fees etc. Are all uni student cavers signed up to BCA.  What about the 48dayslater/urbex tribe, kind of cavers, but probably haven't even heard of bca.

And I certainly think UKc is going to be skewed even older, after all, we're pretty much a bunch of armchair cavers,  I've been underground once in the last 18 months.  :-[ :(

20180307024956-Rescue.png
 

Badlad

Administrator
Staff member
PaulW said:
Cap'n Chris said:
Define a caver. Remember that tens of thousands of under 18s cave every year, but they don't exist within clubs or BCA.

Erm yes they do

we took 5 U18 club members caving last month on a trip specifically for them

The BCA has a membership category of 'student / under 18'

FYI - the numbers of BCA members in the 10-19 category are only half the number of those in their 70's.  Of course over 100,000 individuals go on an instructed caving trip each year, most of school age.  Many more go down a show cave but does any of this make them cavers?  Probably not.  Most important is how we get more of these youngsters to take up caving as a hobby.  That is the big challenge.  Let's try to promote a more positive image of caving and remove as many barriers to participation as we can  :)
 

SamT

Moderator
Badlad said:
Most important is how we get more of these youngsters to take up caving as a hobby.  That is the big challenge.  Let's try to promote a more positive image of caving and remove as many barriers to participation as we can  :)

Well said -  (y)

 

cap n chris

Well-known member
PaulW said:
Cap'n Chris said:
Define a caver. Remember that tens of thousands of under 18s cave every year, but they don't exist within clubs or BCA.

Erm yes they do

we took 5 U18 club members caving last month on a trip specifically for them

The BCA has a membership category of 'student / under 18'

Good stuff. My sweeping absolutist terminology deserved a spanking!

However, the point stands and was writ large in my eyes on a recent(ish) visit to a caving club wherein I noted quietly to myself that the common room, if you added twenty years to the ages of everyone there, would end up containing one person who hadn't (probably by then) died of old age. Alarm bells should ring in many clubs. Not all. Just many.
 

PeteHall

Moderator
Easier said than done Badlad. Most school age kids rely on their school or parents to facilitate their hobbies. So for the many who's parents aren't cavers, instructed caving is pretty much the only option before university.

If people have had a positive experience with instructed caving during their school years, I would hope that they would be more likely to join a caving club at university or as an adult, I know I did.

My grandmother was a caver in her younger days (my mother only went once). Yet even with the family background, my first caving experience was when my mother paid for me to do the Cheddar Caves "adventure caving experience" for my 15th birthday. It planted a seed and when I saw the caving club at university, I joined straight away.

I genuinely believe that good instructed caving has by far the best chance of introducing people to our fine sport at an early age. Backed up by good university clubs and good regional clubs to turn it from a fun day out into a lifetime interest.
 

mrodoc

Well-known member
NewStuff said:
Without getting all political -

A lot of young people simply CBA with the faff. Certain "old ways" involve faff, ergo, less young people to repalce those retiring, losing interest ot shuffling off this mortal coil. Things in some places are moving in the right direction to combat this.

I suspect this poll will look like a pyramid chopped in half.

One thing I find extremely irritating is people using acronyms without explaining them.  CBA could mean a number of things. I guess it means Cannot Be Arsed. As a GP more than  30 years ago I got a discharge sheet that stated my patient had had a CABG with a LIMA to the LAD. Took me a while to discover what that meant I can tell you!
 

pwhole

Well-known member
SamT said:
I've been underground once in the last 18 months.  :-[ :(

We still have that trip outstanding...when you get the time...;)

But one other complicating issue is the age that folks start caving. I was very late - middle-aged in fact. But I manage one or two trips a week, every week. But I don't have much else going on to stop me.
 

mikem

Well-known member
There are far more active cavers over 60 than there were even 20 years ago! But then you might expect that if there were more people caving then.

Badlad's figures seem to be being borne out, with 45+ having almost twice as many votes as the "youngsters" (the 45-60 age bracket is a bit skewed as it covers 15 years, whilst others are only 10, but allowing for that, it still has twice as many votes as each of the three younger brackets - in fact you could claim the over 60s are still winning..)

However, it is certainly noticeable in kayaking that the younger paddlers aren't using the UKRivers forum & have also moved away from facebook as the age demographic increases.

Mike
 

NewStuff

New member
mrodoc said:
One thing I find extremely irritating is people using acronyms without explaining them.  CBA could mean a number of things. I guess it means Cannot Be Arsed. As a GP more than  30 years ago I got a discharge sheet that stated my patient had had a CABG with a LIMA to the LAD. Took me a while to discover what that meant I can tell you!

If I have to explain a TLA then I CBA using it, and just type it in the normal fashion.  ;) :tease:
 
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