Daily Life in 23 Countries

Abstract

The three tables here provide the reader with a snapshot of “an average week in the life” of the usual working-aged population between 18 and 64 years in 23 countries (see the methodological notes at the end for two slight exceptions to the age range). Table 1 covers the 168 h weekly hours for people of both sexes, Table 2 covers the weekly hours for women only, while Table 3 covers men. All three tables cover weekly hours spent on 31 activities (and a subtotal for free time) that are grouped in four broad categories: paid work and education; household, family and social care; sleep and other personal care; and free time. Parallel tables for percent participating in these activities and average time per participant, along with weekday and weekend day differences, can be found in the technical paper version of this publication on http://www.timeuse.org/research/technical-papers. Some observations drawn in this technical paper that are not displayed in Tables 1–3 are highlighted in italics in the text below. Table 1 Average weekly hours for whole population: Age 18–64 Table 2 Average weekly hours for women: Age 18–64 Table 3 Average weekly hours for men: Age 18–64 Readers should interpret these data cautiously since some national differences may reflect cultural differences in reporting or coding procedures rather than actual behavior. These tables update, expand and supersede the parallel Tables 1–3 for 18 countries reported in Fisher and Robinson (2009)—again see the methodological notes at the end for further comment, as well for information on year(s) of data collection and sample sizes. These country-level diary data generally average daily activities across a year by collecting random-day diaries from large samples of working-age people on all days of the week and all weeks of the year. All individuals occasionally experience unusual days, but the rate of unusual days across the population will be captured by this methodology. Numerous cultural, technological and social constraints affect these diary accounts, including geography and proximity to facilities; access to money, support transport and technological resources; social conventions, and climate/weather, among many other factors. By collecting a random sample of person-days of activity across a random sample of the population, time-diary surveys reveal the range of common patterns of activity happening in a society. They also reveal which groups of people are more or less likely to engage in particular activities across the 168 h of the week in terms of work, sleep and free time. For activities like sleeping and eating that everyone does almost every day, the figures in Tables 1–3 represent the average time for the whole population. For activities that people do not do every day, like work or shopping, the average time on any given day will be lower than the average time for people who did do activity on their diary day. Thus, not every person holds down a job for the whole of their working life, and those employed will not work all days of the week. The average of four hours of paid work time per day in the technical paper reflect the amount of paid work undertaken by people across that society on any given day. This amounts to around four hours per person of working age. The less frequently people do an activity (such as voluntary work), or the lower the proportion of people in a society who engage in the activity (such as pet care), the lower the average time for a society on any given day.