Pickup basketball and neighborhood kickball are less common now than for generations past, giving way to more organized and formal youth sports intended to help kids get ahead, a new study suggests.

Researchers found that compared to people born in earlier decades, youths born in the 1990s spent more of their recreational time playing formal sports – coached by adults and wearing uniforms – than with friends and neighbors playing informal matchups organized by kids. 

“Overall, there’s been a pretty healthy mix across generations and among our respondents in playing both informal and formally organized sports, both in general and in the sport one played the most,” said Chris Knoester, lead author of the study and professor of sociology at The Ohio State University. 

“But the data clearly showed a shift toward playing more formal sports across generations. And we found evidence of socioeconomic status differences primarily emerging among those born in the 1990s: People who came from higher social class backgrounds and whose parents were college educated were more likely to play formal sports disproportionately.”

Read the complete article by Emily Caldwell.