Time-use Studies Research Articles

Time Fungibility under Increased Telework Density and Intensity: An Inductive Study of Teleworker Time-Use Under COVID-19 Stay-at-Home Orders

The COVID-19 pandemic compelled a substantial increase in telework intensity, or the amount of time that the individual habitually works outside the office. In this paper, we introduce the term telework density to describe a concurrent trend—a rise in the extent to which workers’ colleagues and family members are themselves teleworking. Drawing on the telework and time-use literatures, we argue that this dual increase in telework intensity and density presents a theoretical tension between an increase in discretionary time-use for the teleworker due to greater time spent at home, and a decrease in discretionary time-use due to greater synchronization needs from work and non-work demands. To examine this tension, we conduct an inductive study of government employees in the United Kingdom. Through 43 in-depth, semi-structured interviews, we identify time fungibility as a key factor in helping workers manage the additional constraint engendered by telework density. Time fungibility is the substitutability of units of time, allowing workers to substitute work-time with non-work time. We uncover two underlying mechanisms driving time fungibility—mutual awareness and accommodative behavior amongst colleagues; and scheduled, technologically-mediated interactions—which ensured that telework density enabled rather than constrained discretionary time-use, thus alleviating the theoretical tension between telework intensity and density. We seek to contribute to the literatures on telework, time-use, and work-life management. More proximally, our findings contribute to the conceptual toolkit of researchers examining the lasting legacy of COVID-19 on work practices.

Foodwork as the New Fathering?

The aim of this paper is to explore the parallels of fathering and foodwork among men in Sweden. The research question is: can foodwork be seen as “the new fathering”? The paper outlines the narrative of fathers in Sweden and gender progressiveness, and discusses gendered foodwork in Sweden up until the mid-1990s. Subsequently, statistical evidence from Statistics Sweden’s three time-use studies is presented, complemented with evidence from quantitative studies about the gendered division of housework. Here, the data demonstrates change over time in men’s and women’s total housework, foodwork and childcare. Men are doing more and women less, although the absolute changes are greater among women who still do more. Such evidence is further discussed in relation to socio-demographics, household composition and paid work, pointing to the relevance of factors such as gender-egalitarian attitudes and having children. The quantitative section is then followed by an argumentation about cultural shifts in relation to qualitative studies on men’s domestic foodwork. In the discussion it is concluded that foodwork can indeed be seen as “the new fathering”. Not as a substitution for fathering or as something exclusive for fathers, but as an addition to the repertoire of cultural understandings and social expectations of a “modern” man in Sweden. However, the most substantial change is likely to be cultural—on the level of ideals—while statistics on behaviour mostly support slow and minor changes, with the overall social relation of men and women demonstrating significant stability.

The Temporal Dimension of Shopping Behavior

Shopping is a major household activity that consumes time and other resources. This paper represents an attempt to construct a unified model of shopping activity by drawing on the households’ production approach. A formal treatment is presented that takes into account the explicit relationships between households’ temporal and monetary resources, stage of family life cycle, their subjective shopping preferences, and shopping behavior. Emerged propositions make the study of time use for shopping increasingly amenable.

A Time-use Study of Immigrant Mothers’ Positive Emotions Raising a Child with ASD

To understand Mexican heritage mothers’ positive emotional experiences raising their children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), we examined whether mothers’ positive emotions varied by their household income, educational attainment, and their occupational and marital status. We also examined how emotions varied by mothers’ interpersonal context (i.e., adults potentially available to provide support at various times of the day). Thirty-two Mexican heritage mothers who cared for at least one child with ASD completed five daily diary surveys over five days within a variety of interpersonal contexts. HLM analysis of 697 surveys showed that employed mothers reported less confidence than unemployed mothers (p < 0.05). Mothers who earned more than $25,000 annually reported being more confident (p < 0.05) and calmer (p < 0.01) than mothers who earned less than $15,000 annually. Mothers who experienced positive emotions (excitement, confidence, and calm) tended to report a higher household income and were more likely to be married. Notably, mothers’ education status did not predict positive emotional states possibly due to limited variability within the sample. Contrary to our expectation, mothers reported being more excited when they were alone with their child than when they were not with their child (p < 0.05), or when they were with their child and other family members (p < 0.01). This methodology provided a rich understanding of the heterogeneity of mothers’ positive emotional experiences in a population that is marginalized and understudied.

The Social Structure of Time: Emerging Trends and New Directions

Research on time use has seen several major developments in recent years. These include the adoption of exciting new technologies (e.g., smartphones, wearable Global Positioning System devices) that track behavior in real time, as well as a growing international database—the Multinational Time Use Study—that has surpassed one million days’ worth of harmonized time-diary data. These developments are transforming our understanding of the social patterning of everyday behavior. This article provides updates about this area of work, including recent findings regarding foundational sociological issues such as trends in gendered divisions of household labor and over-time, cross-national aggregate estimates of time spent on paid work and leisure. We also highlight new approaches to the study of time use. This includes an overview of advances in the collection and analysis of time-stamped behavioral data, as well as a discussion of methodological advances in the analysis of the temporal sequential structure of everyday activities.

It’s Time We Talk About Time in Entrepreneurship

This editorial draws attention to time to advance entrepreneurship research by focusing on two aspects of time—time perspective and time management. We initiate a deeper conversation on time in entrepreneurship and illustrate the value of a time-based lens for entrepreneurship research through discussing examples at the individual, firm and context levels. These examples consider underdog and portfolio entrepreneurs; well-being; social and unethical entrepreneurial behavior; entrepreneurial teams and entrepreneur–investor dyads; firm strategy; industry and cultural contexts. We review promising methods for time-conscious entrepreneurship research: process, true longitudinal, diary, experience sampling, observational, work-shadowing and time-use studies; historical approaches; experiments; and simulations.

La distribución del tiempo discrecional en España

El presente artículo aplica la metodología del tiempo discrecional al caso de la sociedad española. Mientras que la noción de tiempo libre en los estudios sobre usos del tiempo es generalmente construida como el remanente tras sustraer el tiempo efectivamente empleado en el empleo, el trabajo doméstico y los cuidados personales, el tiempo discrecional usa en su lugar el mínimo tiempo que es necesario emplear en las rúbricas indicadas. Al emplear estándares de necesidad en lugar de elecciones concretas, se configura como una aproximación más adecuada a la autonomía temporal de la que disfrutan los individuos y, por extensión, a su respectivo bienestar individual. Con el objetivo de desvelar las diversas segmentaciones existentes en la sociedad española en lo tocante al tiempo, el énfasis recaerá primordialmente en las intersecciones existentes entre las relaciones de género y la clase socioeconómica de origen.

The out-of-home activities of older people in Hong Kong: A time-use study

The out-of-home activities of older people in Hong Kong: A time-use study

Combining diaries and interviews in time-use studies

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the combined use of time-use diaries and interviews to get a fuller understanding of how people use their time, the factors that influence their time use, and their subjective perceptions of their time pressures. This paper focuses on how the methodology influenced the findings.Design/methodology/approachParticipants kept a diary of their time use for one week and then participated in interviews to discuss their time use.FindingsWhile the diaries yielded numerical data about participants’ time use, the interviews revealed the reasons behind their time choices. The complexity of Pakistani food preparation and the presence of in-laws in the home emerged as major factors. All participants expressed frustration with their time poverty.Research limitations/implicationsThis was a small pilot study limited to eight participants.Practical implicationsThis method gives researchers a more powerful tool for understanding not only how people use their time, but the social, cultural and economic forces behind their choices.Social implicationsTime poverty creates social inequities, especially among women and marginalized people. The methodology presented allows participants to have a voice in time-use studies and can help policy makers create policies that correct time poverty for disadvantaged groups.Originality/valueThis paper illustrates the usefulness of combining two existing methods for time-use studies in a new way for more powerful results.

Explaining Adolescents’ Affect: A Time-Use Study of Opportunities for Support and Autonomy across Interpersonal Contexts

In order to uncover the reason why adolescents generally experience less positive emotional experience in the presence of parents, we compared the association of perceived opportunities for autonomy and support to adolescents’ positive emotional states when they were with their parents vs. in other interpersonal contexts. Thirty-one white, lower socioeconomic status, ninth grade students evaluated the fulfillment of their autonomy and support needs and their emotional experiences at multiple time points within a variety of interpersonal contexts over a one-week period. Hierarchical linear modeling of 1268 surveys showed that, compared to when they were with only their parents, these adolescents experienced relatively more frequent positive emotions when they were with peers, or with other adults in addition to or in the absence of their parents. Moreover, perceived opportunities for autonomy and support were associated with positive emotional experiences at a given time point. Perceived autonomy and support operated differently depending on the interpersonal context; the effects of these opportunities were smaller in the context of parent-only interactions than those involving interactions with other people. This study contributes to the literature on adolescent affect by showing that the moment-by-moment, intra-individual psychological affordances of autonomy and support are differentially associated with emotional experiences depending on the interpersonal context. Furthermore, these findings suggest that individuation-relatedness theory appears to be applicable to a relatively understudied population, namely white adolescents from low-SES families.

Digital Gaming and Young People’s Friendships: A Mixed Methods Study of Time Use and Gaming in School

In this mixed methods study, we investigate the impact of digital gaming on school social life among young people (17–19 year old) by combining over-time data investigating friendships as they form, with subjective experiences of friendships. We draw on one full cohort of Swedish pupils surveyed on three occasions during their first year in upper-secondary school ( n = 115) and one interview sample of 10 game users. Results indicate that how much time young people spend on gaming is not a significant factor for friendship formation in the studied sample. Moreover, high-use did not make game users socially isolated or less popular in school. We discuss how young people adhere to ideals of responsible leisure in order to become adults; practising time-management strategies to make place for time-consuming leisure while not letting it impact personal relationships.

Problems in Measuring Diachronic Religious Behavior, or Using Indicators to ‘Make a Virtue of Necessity’: The Case of the Netherlands (1975–2005)

The aim of this study is to show the different advantages and drawbacks of the main quantitative indicators used in research on diachronic religious behavior. We will demonstrate that religious affiliation has to be used in long-term studies; although it is extremely imprecise, it is often available over long periods of time. Instead, the best solution for medium-term studies is to use frequency of attendance at religious services. This indicator is more accurate than religious affiliation, but is only widely available from the 1960s–1970s onwards. Finally, the most suitable indicator for short-term analysis is obtained from diary-based time-use studies. It is the most precise of the three indicators, but the source is less readily available as these surveys have only been conducted in most countries in the last 30 years. This study is based on data from Time Use Surveys conducted in the Netherlands every 5 years from 1975 to 2005.

Time Use, Daily Activities, and Health-Related Quality of Life of Irish Youth

Abstract Date Presented 3/30/2017 This large cross-sectional time-use study empirically examined, for the first time, the relationship between participation in daily activity and self-reported health-related quality of life for school-going youth in Ireland. Primary Author and Speaker: Elizabeth Anne McKay Contributing Authors: Anthony P. Fitzgerald, Ivan Perry

地域通貨によるアンペイド・ワーク評価と時間の関係性: 東京都世田谷区在住雇用労働者夫妻の生活時間調査から

地域通貨によるアンペイド・ワーク評価と時間の関係性: 東京都世田谷区在住雇用労働者夫妻の生活時間調査から

A time-use study of community health worker service activities in three rural districts of Tanzania (Rufiji, Ulanga and Kilombero).

BackgroundDespite expanding international commitment to community health worker (CHW) deployment, little is known about how such workers actually use their time. This paper investigates this issue for paid CHWs named “Community Health Agents,” which in Swahili is “Wawezeshaji wa Afya ya Jamii” (“WAJA”), trained for 9 months in primary health care service delivery and deployed to villages as subjects of a randomized trial of their impact on childhood survival in three rural districts of Tanzania.MethodsTo capture information about time allocation, 30 WAJA were observed during conventional working hours by research assistants for 5 days each over a period of 4 weeks. Results were presented in term of percentage time allocation for direct client treatment, documentation activities, health education, health promotion non-work-related activities and personal activities.ResultsDuring routine 8-h workdays, 59.5 % of WAJA time was spent on the provision of health services and other work-related activities. Overall, WAJA spent 27.8 % of their work on traveling from home to home, 33.1 % on health education, 9.9 % of health promotion and only 12.3 % on direct patient care. Other activities related to documentation (7.8 %) and supervision (2.5 %).ConclusionsResults reflect the pressing obligations of WAJA to engage in activities other than direct work responsibilities during routine work hours. Time spent on work activities is primarily used for health education, promotion, moving between households, and direct patient care. However, greater effort should be directed to strengthening supervisory systems and follow-up of challenges WAJAs facing in order to increase proportion of working hours.

Social Predictors of Active Life Engagement: A Time-Use Study of Young-Old French Adults.

Active life engagement is important for successful aging of societies and individuals. We tested predictors of engagement in French adults aged 60-74 (the GAZEL cohort). Participants (n = 10,764) reported the previous day's activities in a time-use survey. We modeled concurrent social, demographic, and health predictors of participation incidence and intensity in paid work, volunteering, caregiving, community involvement, and informal social interaction. Men were more active in volunteering/community activities and women in caregiving and informal social interaction. Participation varied inversely with socioeconomic status (SES). Paid work participation declined linearly with age and health status, but this relationship did not hold for other activities. Men and those of higher SES were more likely to participate in certain activities than were women and those of low lifetime SES, potentially limiting the latter groups' future health and well-being benefits from such activities. Findings suggest groups that could benefit from interventions to increase engagement.

A question of time: A study of time use in people with schizophrenia

BackgroundLoss of functioning is a core feature associated with the diagnosis of schizophrenia. Several measures are used to asses this domain including activity measures assessing time use which has been demonstrated to be a valuable indicator of recovery. However there is limited information on the magnitude and the domains where time use may differ between people with schizophrenia and the general population. MethodOne hundred and seventy people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia and 1124 people from the general population were assessed and compared on the Time Use Survey. This estimates the time spent in everyday activities in ten domains. The influence of symptom severity and clinical variables on time-use was examined in people with schizophrenia. ResultsPeople with schizophrenia spent less time in functional but also in social and leisure activities and more time resting and “doing nothing” compared to the general population. When compared with unemployed individuals and people with a physical disability, people with schizophrenia spent comparable time in functional activities but significantly less in leisure, socialising activities and travelling. Negative symptom severity was associated with time spent in passive activities and negatively influenced time in social and leisure activities. ConclusionsAlongside significant effects on functional economic activities schizophrenia has also a profound impact on activities that make life enjoyable. Mapping time use will be a useful additional tool to assess progress towards recovery.

Heterogeneity in time and energy use of watching television

There is substantial variability in residential energy use, partly driven by heterogeneous behavioral patterns. Time-use is relevant to energy when consumption tracks the time a device is used. Cluster analysis is a promising approach to identify time-use patterns. If clusters with particularly long time use and thus high energy consumption emerge, these groups could merit targeted policy intervention. We investigate these ideas via an empirical study of time use for television watching in the U.S. Three clusters were identified. In 2013, the average time spent watching television by Clusters 1, 2 and 3 are dramatically different: 1.1, 3.5 and 7.7hperday respectively. While members of Cluster 3 are only 14% of the total population they represent 34% of TV energy consumption. The population of Cluster 3 tends to be older, less employed and less educated. Energy savings per adopter is much larger for Cluster 3, suggesting much higher benefits from efficient devices. These results are relevant to the design of efficiency programs, indicating potential for variable rebates and/or tiered communication. With variable rebates, utilities would offer higher incentives to high-use customers. In tiered communication, utilities would devote more resources to engage customers with larger savings potential.

Occupational therapy roles and responsibilities: Evidence from a pilot study of time use in an integrated health and social care trust

Introduction Occupational therapists undertake a broad spectrum of activities, yet no mechanism exists to record how working time is distributed across them. This is a hindrance to research, evaluation and evidence-based practice. Method A new diary schedule was piloted by 151 qualified and assistant-grade practitioners working in multiple adult health and social care settings in an integrated NHS and social care trust in England. Time use relating to 37 occupational therapy tasks was recorded in 30 minute intervals for one week. Results Almost 5000 hours of activity were recorded. For the average working week, 39% of time was spent in direct care with clients, 31% involved undertaking indirect casework such as liaison and administration, whilst a further 22% was in team/service activity. Only modest differences were observed between qualified and assistant-grade respondents, whilst occupational therapists in traditional social care roles spent significantly longer in liaison and administrative duties. Individual tasks capturing ‘therapeutic activity’ accounted for just 10% of practitioner time. Conclusion The new diary tool is a viable data collection instrument to evaluate practice and the impact of service redesign. However, further work is needed to evaluate its measurement properties in more detail.

Education Reforms, Bureaucracy and the Puzzles of Implementation: A Case Study from Bihar

It is a widely accepted truth that the Indian state suffers from a serious crisis of implementation capability. Despite widespread recognition of this crisis, there is remarkably little analytical work on how the Indian state works, particularly at the level of implementation. We know very little about the everyday practices of local bureaucrats, the decision-making systems within which they function and the organizational culture and norms that this fosters. Such an understanding is critical both to unpacking the roots of this implementation failure as well as to understanding how reform efforts are institutionalized, interpreted and implemented on the ground. Crucially, it can offer insights into understanding why the implementation crisis persists and under what conditions this can be reversed. Our research is an attempt to fill this gap in the literature by analyzing an attempt by the Government of Bihar (GoB) to adopt an alternative pedagogy tool in government schools to improve the quality of learning as part of a larger reform effort called the ‘Mission Gunvatta,’ initiated in the 2013-14 academic year. The pedagogical strategy was based on homegrown experiments that challenged mainstream assumptions about classroom organization and teaching based on set curricula. Critically, it was designed to strengthen local administrative capacity to support schools from the bottom up.Through detailed qualitative interviews and time-use studies of Bihar’s education administrators, this study points to the critical role played by organizational culture and resultant perceptions and practices of frontline administrators in interpreting, articulating and implementing reform choices on the ground. In our analysis, the successes and failures of service delivery reforms are as much about appropriate policy design choices, fostering innovation and leadership as it is about the interplay between reform objectives and the every-day practices of those tasked with implementing reforms. This, we argue, is the key missing link in contemporary understanding of public institutions and service delivery reforms in particular.