International Meeting on Gender Statistics within the
Framework of the Millennium Development Goals
Aguascalientes, 19-21 September 2006
Guide to Producing Statistics on
Time-Use
Demographic and Social Statistics Branch
United Nations Statistics Division
Time-use survey – Developing new
application for an existing methodology
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Time-use studies are from the early 1900s, used
for reporting on social conditions
Time-use method popularized by the 1972
“Multinational Comparative Time-use Study”
involving 12 countries.
In late 1970s the United Nations Statistics
Division explored one possible application of timeuse methodology - development of welfare
oriented measures to supplement the national
accounts and balances.
In late 1990s with the call from Beijing for the
comprehensive assessment of all forms of work,
programme initiated covering several elements.
United Nations Programme on Timeuse Statistics (1)
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Began in 1997 as a response to Beijing
Platform’s call for comprehensive
measurement of all forms of work
Developed the conceptual framework for
developing a suitable classification for
time-use statistics that reflects the needs
and specificities of market and nonmarket work in developing countries
Expert group meeting in November 1997
endorsed the proposed principles and
called for a guide on producing time-use
statistics
United Nations Programme on Timeuse Statistics (2)
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Project on the Development of Guide on
Producing Statistics on Time-use supported by
UNDP and IDRC (Canada)
Created a webpage for time-use statistics
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Presenting information about time-use surveys in
countries around the world
Presenting basic statistical indicators from national
time-use studies
Posting and inviting questions and comments on the
draft classification (ICATUS)
The “Guide to Producing Statistics on Time-use”
published in 2004, in English; translation into
Spanish and other UN official languages in
progres
Focus of the presentation
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The presentation deals with one of the
key outputs of the programme -- “Guide
to Producing Statistics on Time-use”
Provides highlights on the content of the
Guide, discusses issues that need to be
considered in the planning of time-use
surveys
Introduces the proposed “International
Classification of Activities for Time-use
Statistics” currently under review
Identifies follow-up programme activities
What are time-use statistics?
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Quantitative summaries of how
individuals ‘spend’ or allocate their time
over a specified period.
Summaries
Average number of hours (in a day, in a week, in a
month, etc.)
Total number of hours (in a day, in a week, in a
month, etc.)
Spent on specific categories of activities
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traveling (to work, shops);
working (in paid job, unpaid work, domestic work,
volunteer work); in recreational activities; educational
activities.
Why produce time-use statistics?
Originally,
 Focus on living conditions, leisure time for
working class
 Used for organized labour’s advocacy on
shortening working day
 Assessing effect of technology on
homemakers
 Providing insights into psychological and
social motivations
 Analyzing problem of commuting and
length of commuting time
Why time-use statistics? (2)
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Measurement and analysis of quality of
life or general well-being
Measurement and valuation of unpaid
work (domestic and volunteer work)
Development of household production
accounts
Improving estimates of paid and unpaid
work
Analysis of policy implications of
development planning issues.
Review of more than 50 country timeuse surveys indicate…
Two general
surveys:
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objectives
of
time-use
To provide indicators of the quality of life
or well-being of the nation in terms of
time-use patterns of people
To improve estimates of the value of
goods and services, with particular
emphasis on increasing visibility of
women’s work through better statistics
on their contribution to the economy
Time-use survey …
Has a definite application in gender statistics
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To map out the division of roles and
responsibilities within the household
To obtain a comprehensive measurement of all
forms of work
To better characterize and capture difficult-tomeasure non-market economic activities
(especially those in which women are typically
engaged)
To provide the required information on time
allocation for valuing women’s and men’s unpaid
work
Time-use surveys – Responding to
Call from Beijing
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Improving data collection on the unremunerated
work that is already included in the System of
National Accounts (SNA), such as in agriculture and
other types of non-market production activities
(para. 206 (f) (i)).
Improving measurements that at present
underestimate women’s unemployment and
underemployment in the labour market (para. 2006
(f) (ii)).
Developing methods quantifying the value of
unremunerated work that is outside national
accounts, such as caring for dependents, preparing
food, for possible reflection in satelite accounts that
may be produced separately from but are consistent
with core national accounts (para. 2006 (f) (iii)).
Guide on Producing Statistics on Time-use
Organized in five parts:
 Part 1 – Planning and organizing for producing
statistics on time use
 Part 2 – Key design specifications for time-use
surveys, including specific issues on sample
design
 Part 3 - Collecting and processing time-use data
 Part 4 – Review and dissemination of time-use
data
 Part 5 – Classification of activities for time-use
statistics
 Annexes – Examples of questionnaires, codes for
contexts, training programme for data collection,
suggested tables for time-use data
Specific features of time-use studies (1)
Main elements of time-use study
 Activities
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Time spent
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Selective (predefined set) – time spent is
recorded only for selected activity or set of
activities within a specified period
Exhaustive – all activities that a person
undertakes are listed as they are undertaken
(over a period – such as 12 or 24 hours, 7-day
week)
Time at start and end of the activity
Other issues that define context of the
activity
Specific features of time-use studies (2)
Context is important
 Location – where the activity takes place
e.g., at home, at work, at school, at
service centre, in recreational facility, etc.
 Presence of other people when the
activity occurred – “with whom?”
 Beneficiary of the activity - “for whom?”
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Time at start and end of the activity
Motivation for the activity – i.e., whether
activity is paid or unpaid
In summary…
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Time-use survey is a tool for studying the
scope of activities and time allocation of
individuals (girls, boys, women and men)
The main component of the data
collection instrument and that which
takes the most part of the survey is the
information about the nature of the
activities and time spent on them
Basic characteristics of the respondents
are also collected, as part of the survey,
to enhance the analysis and the utility of
the statistics compiled.
Time-use survey design components
With following key elements
I. Survey design
II. Sample design and
Selection – population and
time dimension
III. Activity classification
dimension
Type of survey instrument
used for recording
activities (time diary or
short/abbreviated formats)
and related designs
Mode of data collection
(interview, self-reporting or
observation)
Type of household survey
(independent or component
Of a multipurpose survey)
Types of survey instrument
Generally two forms
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Time diaries – full time diary and
“light” simplified time diary - designed
to enable respondent to report all
activities undertaken over a defined
period of time, with the beginning and
ending time for each activity
Abbreviated (stylized) versions of
diaries – respondents recall amount of
time they allocated to certain activities
over a specified period (day, week or
year)
Mode of data collection
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Direct observation – time use is
observed and recorded by enumerator
Self-reporting – respondent records
time use
Interview – personal/face-to-face or
computer-aided telephone interview
Classification of activities for time-use
statistics 
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Provides detailed comprehensive,
systematic listing of activities, that serves
as a basis for assessing completeness of
coverage of activities
Guides the interviewer for eliciting from
respondent the required level of detail
Defines the framework for analysis of the
time-use survey data
Serves as a basis for defining analytical
and tabulation categories
Why another classification? (1)
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Typically activity classifications for timeuse surveys focus on detailed lists of noneconomic activities such as housework,
care-giving, socialization, recreation,
learning, mass media
New classifications (developed by some
countries) encompass expanded uses of
time-use data – and included details for
economic activities, and potential for
differentiating activities relative to the
production boundary of the system of
national accounts (SNA)
Why another classification? (2)
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Special consideration of gender- specific
objectives for TUS
Expanding the objectives of time-use
surveys to cover measurement and
valuation of unremunerated work
necessitates the adoption of an enhanced
classification that sufficiently
differentiates the various categories of
activities…
Hence the proposed International
Classification of Activities for Time-Use
Statistics (ICATUS)
Principles underlying the proposed
activity classification
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Flexibility – applied to different analytical
objectives as well as other potential uses of timeuse statistics
Balanced and comprehensive coverage of groups
of all activities, reflecting the structure of time
distribution (e.g., productive and personal, formal
and informal)
Detailed enough, identifying separately activities
of important subpopulations
Close correspondence with classification schemes
of historic data sets, and national and regional
listings that have undergone cycles of testing, use
and review
Purpose and nature of ICATUS
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Serve as a standard activity classification for
time-use statistics applicable to both developing
and developed countries
Builds on existing national and regional
classifications
Provide delineation of the boundaries of economic
and non-economic activities and productive and
non-productive activities
To measure all forms of work including
unremunerated work
Consistent with existing standard classifications in
labour and economic statistics
Main categories of ICATUS
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First level of differentiation –
relationship to the production
boundary of SNA
Production within SNA boundary –
“SNA work”
“SNA work activities”
Personal activities
United Nations Programme on Timeuse Statistics (3) – Next Steps
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Compile experiences in the use of ICATUS in
national time-use surveys
Revise and finalize ICATUS based on
comments and other inputs from countries,
derived from field application of the
classification
Maintain webpage on national practices in
time-use statistics
Update, at regular intervals, basic statistics
and indicators on time-use
Revise manual(s) on measuring economic
activity based on lessons from time-use
surveys
To advance this work, and assist
other countries….
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Provide information (including
documentation) on time-use surveys in
countries, for updating UNSD webpage on
time-use statistics
Send comments, lessons from the
application of, and questions on the
classification, to: email address
genderstats@UN.org
For further information consult webpage http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/
sconcerns/tuse/default.aspx
Thank you