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This paper is an excerpt from a countrywide study entitled “Leisure in Brazil: representations and realizations of daily experiences”, which aims to investigate what Brazilians do in their leisure time, what they would like to do and why they do not do it.

Specifically, in this paper, the authors analyze data referring to the elderly population from southeastern Brazil. Sampling of the national survey comprised representative quotas of the population, considering region and state, and, in each state, quotas of sex, age, education level and family income, according to data obtained by IBGE in 2010. A total of 2,400 interviews were conducted in total. For the present study, the 91 interviews conducted with elderly subjects from the Southeast region of Brazil were considered.

The majority of participants understand leisure as a time for resting and fun and have physical/sports interests as their favorite leisure activity during the week. On weekends, social and tourism interests stand out, and idleness stands out in the preference of this public during the holiday period. Lack of time and financial resources are the main barriers to the access to and permanence in the desired leisure practices.

Having knowledge of the relationship between leisure and aging in Brazil is a way to contribute to the potential of this stage of life, based on the quality of life and continued learning provided by the content they enjoy.