United Nations
Department of Economic and Social Affairs
Statistical Division (UNSD)
Expert Group Meeting
The revision of ICATUS
11-13 June 2012
New York
Time use Survey in Europe
HETUS Project and
the Italian experience
Tania Cappadozzi
Italian National Institute of Statistics
Senior researcher in Time Use Survey
Index

Time Use Survey: main uses in Italy and EU

HETUS project and the Italian TUS

HETUS Methodological features

HETUS classification system
1. An Italian peculiarity: Children Time

Main differences between HETUS and ICATUS
classification
The
It and EU
aims
Time Use Survey and Gender statistics
Time Use Surveys are a precious source of information on
several issues.
In Italy this survey is used mainly in the social sector, for
gender statistics.
With Time Use data it’s possible:
 to analyze in detail the division of paid and unpaid
workloads between men and women.
 to understand how men and women use their time
 to identify the way gender differences in time use
develop during the various stages of life
EU
historical
background
The HETUS project
In the European context the HETUS project (Harmonised
European Time Use Studies) has been created by Eurostat
since early 1990s to harmonize the Time Use surveys.
A first wave of pilot surveys were conducted during those
years. On the bases of their results, the guidelines were
developed during the late 1990s. A final draft was published in
2000 and revised in 2008 thanks to the work of a Task Force.
At present these Guidelines, although not constraining, are the
main reference guide for the European Member countries
that are interested in the international results’ comparability.
Methodological
features
The main recommendations of HETUS guidelines
 Population and sample design
– The population is composed by persons resident at domestic
addresses and not in institutions (military service, hospitals, prisons),
aged 10 years and older (IT-TUS includes children 3-9 years old).
– Regarding sample design, highest priority is given to individual
observations and to keep individual non-response low. All members of
the household are included in the sample.
 Number of diary days
– 2 diary days: 1 week day and 1 week-end day (IT-TUS uses only one
diary day).
 Coverage of the year
– The survey days/dates have to be representative of, and cover a full 12
months period. The diary days are allocated to households/individuals by
a controlled random procedure.
4 harmonised survey tools
–
–
–
–
The day diary
The weekly diary
The individual questionnaire
The household questionnaire
Classification system and coding rules
 Basic tables
IT
historical
background
The Italian Time Use Survey (IT-TUS)
In Italy TUS is planned every five years by the law 53 of 2000.

The first Italian Time Use Survey: from June 1988 to May 1989
– 13,729 households
– 38,110 Day diaries

The Harmonized European Pilot Survey: June - September 1996

The first wave of the Harmonized European Time Use Surveys:
from April 2002 to March 2003
–
21.075 Households
HETUS
–
51.206 Day diaries
Guidelines 2000

The second wave of the Harmonized European Time Use Surveys:
from February 2008 to January 2009
1.
18.250 Households
HETUS
2.
40.945 Day diaries
Guidelines 2008

ISTAT is now planning the fourth Time use survey:
scheduled from October 2013 to September 2014
Methodological
features
IT
Survey tools
Italian survey instruments and interviewing
techniques
 Household questionnaire (context variables)
Face to face Interview
with paper questionnaire
One for each household in the sample
 Individual questionnaire (context variables)
One for each household member
 Day diary (when, what, what else, where, with whom)
Self-administered paper
questionnaires
One for each household member
aged 3 years or older
 Week diary (hours of paid-work in a week)
One for each household member
aged 15 years or older
Methodological
features
IT
The IT day diary
Survey tools
The daily diary starts at 04:00 am and covers 24 hours with 144
intervals of 10 minutes (HETUS recommendation).
What were you doing?
Record your main activity for each
10-minute period!
Only one main activity on each line!
What else were you doing? Where were you
Record the most important
or which
parallel activity
means were you
moving by?
Were you alone or together with
somebody you know?
Mark "yes" b y crossing
Alone
With household m em bers
Distinguish between travel and activity that is the reason for travelling
Do not forget the mode of transportation
Distinguish between first and second job, if any
07.00-07.10
Woke up the children
07.10-07.20
Had breakfast
07.20-07.30
"
Mother
At home
Talked with my family
"
"
07.30-07.40
Cleared the table
Listened to the radio
07.40-07.50
Helped the children dressing
Talked with my children
07.50-08.00
Went to the day care center
08.00-08.10
Went to job
08.10-08.20
08.20-08.30
"
Regular work (first job)
"
"
Read the newspaper
Other
persons
By foot
By bus
"
At work
08.30-08.40
"
08.40-08.50
"
08.50-09.00
"
09.00-09.10
"
09.10-09.20
"
09.20-09.30
"
09.30-09.40
"
09.40-09.50
"
Father
Partner/S Son/Daug Brother/Si
pouse
hter
ster
that you
know
Coding
activitiy
Coding the day diary
The respondents describe the activities performed
using common language
The coding process translates the sentences
reported by the interviewed into codes
Classification
system proposed
by HETUS,
IT-TUS adapted to
the national needs
International
comparability
Coding
activitiy
Coding activity: the complexity
Association text-code is not an easy one to one linkage,
but it is the outcome of a process
• Extreme content variety
• Extreme language variety
• Necessity to keep a lot of contextual information under
control
• Scarcity/Redundancy of Information
• Wrong compilation (wrong column use)
• Incomplete compilation (missing information about some
variables in one or more intervals)
Coding
activitiy
Coding activity: the problems
Two equal actions, performed in the same setting, can be
coded in different ways depending on their different purpose
The same activity can be coded with different
codes depending on:
• who performs it (sex, age, profession,
household structure, etc.)
• location where the activity takes place
• the target of action
• the sequence of activities
• etc.
Coding
activitiy
Coding activity: some remarks
According to IT experience for the good result of the coding
phase is extremely important:
 Give to respondents clear instruction for filling in pages
on day diary;
 provide a good coding manual containing clear coding
rules, in particular for solving problems deriving with
an incorrect filling of the day diary (multiple
activities in a 10 minute interval, lack of travelling
activities, etc.) and a lot of clear examples;
 a very good coders’ training;
 Italy has chosen to record also sentences reported in
day diary, useful to adopt a mixed coding strategy:
introducing an automatic coding step for activities not
affected by context information and a computerassisted coding step for more complex situations.
HETUS
classification
system
The HETUS 2008 activity codes
The system of activity codes is:
Hierarchical
At three
levels
First level is always present. The following levels
are just specifications of the first level’s categories
HETUS
classification
system
The HETUS activity classification system
0
PERSONAL CARE
1
EMPLOYMENT
2
STUDY
10 Major divisions (1 digit codes)
- 33 2 - digits codes
- 108 3 - digits codes
4
For IT Classification
HOUSEHOLD AND FAMILY CARE
- 124 National codes
(3 or 4 - digits
VOLUNTEER WORK AND MEETINGS
codes)
5
SOCIAL LIFE AND ENTERTAINMENT
6
SPORTS AND OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES
7
HOBBY AND GAMES
8
MASS MEDIA
9
TRAVEL AND UNSPECIFIED TIME USE
2
14
HETUS
classification
system
Location and transport mode codes list
The location and transport mode codes list is not hierarchical
 HETUS - 17 codes (10 location codes 7 transport mode codes)
 IT-TUS - 53 codes (36 location codes 17 transport mode codes)
HETUS
00 unspecified location/transport mode
LOCATION CODES
10 unspecified location (not travelling)
11 home
12 weeend home or holiday apartment
13 workplace or school
14 other people’s home
15 restaurant, cafe or pub
16 shopping centers, markets, other shops
17 hotel, guesthouse, camping site
19 other specified location
TRANSPORT MODE CODES
20 Unspecified transport mode
21 Travelling on foot
22 Travelling by bicycle
23 Travelling by moped, motorcycle or motorboat
24 Travelling by passenger car
29 Other private transport mode
31 Travelling by public transport
IT
classification
system
An Italian peculiarity: the children diaries
Children:




Have particular activities
They live the activities in a “different” way
They use a different language
They give more importance to the person with whom they
are, compared to the activity that they are doing
How to code all these differences?
Children diaries
 In IT classification system there are 29 codes only for
children
Example:
2121 - Homework during vacation
 In particular special codes are used if children are with
someone but they don’t say what they are doing
Time
Main activity
14.00-16.00 I stay with
my father
Cod.
m.a.
5.1.5.2
Special
code
Contempor
activity
Cod.
c.a.
Place
At
home
Cod.
place
11
Auxiliar
code
Comparing HETUS and ICATUS activity coding list
HETUS 2008
Draft ICATUS 2012
8 - PERSONAL CARE AND
MAINTENANCE
Excluding 85 – RESTING (in
HETUS is 5 - SOCIAL LIFE AND
ENTERTAINMENT)
0 - PERSONAL CARE
Warning:
- Receiving personal and
health/medical care from
others in HETUS are not
distinct by activities done on
their own
Exemples:
 “My mother help me to eat” is coded like “I eat”
 “My son help me to dress myself” is coded like “I dress myself”
Comparing HETUS and ICATUS activity coding list
HETUS 2008
Draft ICATUS 2012
1 - PAID WORK
1 – EMPLOYMENT
Examples:
 “feeding chickens” if respondent declares
itself or other family members as farmer
this is coded as paid work, but if he is a
teacher this is coded “Tending domestic
animals” in domestic work.
 “I make textiles” done by a tailor is work,
by a lawyer is coded in domestic work.
Warning:
- Work for household in
primary production activities
- non primary production
activities and construction
activities in HETUS is coded
as paid work if is done in a
family business or property
ALSO AS UNPAID FAMILY
MEMBER (according with
occupation declared in the
individual questionnaire)
otherwise those activities are
classified in UNPAID
DOMESTIC WORK
Comparing HETUS and ICATUS activity coding list
HETUS 2008
Draft ICATUS 2012
2 - STUDY
5 – LEARNING
3 - HOUSEHOLD AND
FAMILY CARE
2 - UNPAID DOMESTIC
SERVICES FOR OWN
FINAL USE WITHIN
HOUSEHOLD
3 - UNPAID CAREGIVING
SERVICES TO
HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS
Warning:
When primary production activities (GARDENING/TENDING
DOMESTIC ANIMALS) - non primary production activities
(MAKING TEXTILES) and CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES are done
for household but not for work (according with occupation
declared in the individual questionnaire) in HETUS are classified
in DOMESTIC WORK
Comparing HETUS and ICATUS activity coding list
HETUS 2008
Draft ICATUS 2012
4 - COMMUNITY SERVICES AND
HELP TO OTHER HOUSEHOLDS
4 - VOLUNTARY WORK
AND MEETINGS
63 - CIVIC AND RELATED
RESPONSABILITIES
64 - RELIGIOUS ACTIVITIES
5 - SOCIAL LIFE AND
ENTERTAINMENT
61 - SOCIALIZING (Excluding mail
communication in HETUS coded
in Computing)
62 - PARTECIPATION IN
COMMUNITY CULTURAL
/SOCIAL EVENTS
71 - ATTENDING/VISITING
CULTURAL, ENTERTAINMNET
AND SPORTS EVENTS
743 - VISITING LIBRARY
85 - RESTING
Comparing HETUS and ICATUS activity coding list
HETUS 2008
Draft ICATUS 2012
73 – INDOOR AND OUTDOOR
SPORTS PARTICIPATION
AND RELATED COURSES
Warning:
Fishing, hunting etc. in
ICATUS are coded in work
6 - SPORTS AND OUTDOOR
for household in primary
ACTIVITIES
production activities while in
HETUS those activities are
paid work only if respondent
is a professional fisherman,
hunter, etc. otherwise are
outdoor activities
Comparing HETUS and ICATUS activity coding list
HETUS 2008
7 - HOBBIES AND
COMPUTING
Draft ICATUS 2012
613 - READING AND WRITING
MAIL
71 – HOBBIES, GAMES AND
OTHER PASTIME ACTIVITIES
Warning:
- ICATUS have not a specific code
for computing and code used
refers to the activity for which the
PC is used (i.e. if pc or internet is
used for reading, the code used is
reading, etc.)
But what happens when respondent
write “I'm at the computer”?
Comparing HETUS and ICATUS activity coding list
HETUS 2008
8 – MASS MEDIA
Draft ICATUS 2012
74 – MASS MEDIA
(Excluding VISITING LIBRARY in
HETUS coded in ENTERTAINMENT
AND CULTURE)
Travel are incorporated in
respective main categories
9 – TRAVEL AND
UNSPECIFIED TIME USE
Example of using code 998
How to code “I go out with my friends"
for
one
hour
without
any
specification?
Probably is leisure time but we don’t
know what are they doing 998
There are not unspecified time
use survey codes like:
995 – filling in the time use diary
998 – unspecified leisure time
999 – other unspecified time use
 Thanks for your attention!
 For more information on Italian Time Use survey:
“Time Use in Daily Life” (in English)
http://www3.istat.it/dati/catalogo/20080612_01/
The
aims
Time use data can also be analyzed to study. . .
 The relationship between working times, times of study, of
other productive activities, leisure time and family care
 The activities and needs of particular social categories
(elderly and children)
 Household productive activities not reported by the National
Accounting System
 The days of the week and the hours of the day in which
public services are used
 The times in which places and locations are used (helpful for
their better planning )
 The leisure time
 The use of mass media including the most innovative IT tools
The
aims
At a macro level TUS offers a detailed picture to plan:
 Family policies more attentive to the necessity of
reconciliation between working activities and family
duties and to the necessities of elderly and children;
 A labour policy more conscious of the characteristics and
of the new forms of work;
 A better transports’ organization according to the
information about the daily mobility and the means of
transport used;
 In general a better planning and organization of public
services.
Methodological
features
IT
Survey tools
The IT day diary: instruction for filling in pages
Comparing HETUS and ICATUS activity coding list
WARNING ON CHILDCARE
In Daft ICATUS 2012
Reading, playing and talking with children is coded like
Teaching, training and helping children
while in ICATUS 2005 these activities were separated, just like in
HETUS.
According to IT experience teaching it’s a very different activity
respect playing with children. In Italy frequently there is a
gendered division of roles: the mother helps children with
homework, the father plays with them!
We suggest to divide these activity again