Classification of Time Use Activities

1. Classification of Time Use Activities United Nations Statistics Division Srdjan Mrkić, Chief, Social Statistics

2. Starting point – still relevant and fitting • Developed by Dagfinn Ås (1978) based on ideas of V.D. Patruchev – all activities are either: • Necessary time – basic psychological needs • Explicitly contracted time – gainful employment and school attendance • Committed time – obligated, but a substituted service can be purchased • Free time – remaining time after the first three are accounted for

3. Developments of official statistics • Economic statistics – systematic development – impact on time use activities • Social statistics – more fragmented, yet adapted to quantify social phenomena • In the context of social statistics, time use surveys experienced significant development in both developing and developed countries - in developing countries, primary concern related to gender issues

4. United Nations Statistics Division • Part of the United Nations Secretariat, specifically the Department for Economic and Social Affairs • Reports to the United Nations Statistics Commission • 142 Chief Statisticians, latest session in 2011 • UNSD Mandate • Develop methodological standards for official statistics • Collect, process and disseminate statistics • Technical cooperation • Under the first part of the mandate, in the context of the Beijing Platform for action, in mid-1990’s • Developed the trial International Classification of Time Use - ICATUS

5. ICATUS - Purpose • Provide a set of activity categories for producing statistics on time use • Suitable at national level, provides comparability at regional and international levels • Serve as standard activity classification consistent with existing standard classifications in labor and economic statistics

6. Design principles • Flexible – meeting different needs of users of time use statistics • Balanced and comprehensive coverage of activities (productive <-> personal, formal <-> informal …) • Detailed enough do distinguish activities of particular sub-populations (young, elderly, women …) • Harmonized with previous and existing statistical classifications at national and international level

7. Concept • ICATUS - designed to distinguish productive and non-productive activities on the basis of general production boundary: • A productive activity is the one that can be delegated to another person and yield the same result • General production boundary - broader than the SNA production boundary – includes non-SNA production • Non-productive (personal) activities – cannot be delegated

8. Main categories • Activities within the SNA production boundary – “SNA work” activities (five major divisions) • Activities outside the SNA production boundary but within the general production boundary – “non-SNA work” activities (three major divisions) • Activities that are non productive – personal activities (seven major divisions)

9. Five “SNA work activities” major divisions • Work for corporations/quasi corporations, non-profit institutions and government (formal sector) • Work for household in primary production activities • Work for household in non-primary production activities • Work for household in construction activities • Work for household providing services for income

10. Three “Non SNA work activities” major divisions • Providing unpaid domestic services for own final use within household • Providing unpaid care giving services to household members • Providing community services and help to other households

11. Seven “Personal activities” major divisions • Learning • Socializing and community participation • Attending/visiting cultural, entertainment and sports events/venues • Hobbies, games and other pastime activities • Indoor and outdoor sports participation and related activities • Mass media • Personal care and maintenance

12. Quick summary

13. Hierarchical structure 15 major divisions two-digit code

14. ICATUS implementation – implication for TUS • Implementing ICATUS has implications for the design of the survey instrument, since the questions, among other topics, should provide answers to: • What was the activity? • The purpose of the activity, enabling to distinguish between formal, informal and unpaid work (example of cooking)

15. Fitting in a different framework

16. Time Use Surveys in Developed countries • Focus on many topics beside gender • Economic – unpaid work • Energy consumption • Leisure and recreation • Culture and identity • Paid work • Knowledge and skills • Standard of living • Older people • Youth • Children • Health

17. Harmonized European Time Use Surveys • HETUS – Harmonized European Time Use Surveys – launched in 2000 • Main activity “What did you do?” • Parallel or secondary activity: ”Did you do anything else? If so, what?” • Who with: “Were you alone or together with somebody you know, if so, who?” • Where: Location or mode of transport.

18. HETUS • HETUS • Ten basic groups of activities • Personal care • Employment • Study • Household and family care • Voluntary work and meetings • Social life and entertainment • Sports and outdoor activities • Hobbies and computing • Mass media • Travel and unspecified time use

19. ICATUS and HETUS • ICATUS classifies activities that could conceptually fall under either SNA or non-SNA work as SNA work; some of these activities are classified as non-SNA work in Eurostat and placed under “Household and family care”, • Collecting water and gathering firewood • Preserving and baking for household consumption • Producing handicraft and textiles • Gardening • Tending domestic animals • “Hunting and fishing, picking berries, mushrooms and herbs” are classified under SNA work in ICATUS but as “productive exercise” under “Sports and outdoor activities” in Eurostat

20. Time Use Surveys – Contemporary Status and Issues • Time Use surveys – gaining momentum in both developing and developed countries • A number of events in developing countries • Pressure from gender sector • Development of gender statistics • Global Forum on Gender Statistics • Increased pressure for more accurate indicators • Stiglitz-Sen-Fitoussi Report

21. Back to the starting questions • How close are we at adopting a universal classification of time use activities? • ICATUS is used directly or with adaptations in many developing countries • ICATUS needs to be reviewed based on these experiences and finalized • While it may not be possible and feasible having only one international classification, certainly need correspondence tables • Current momentum provides best opportunity to date for such a push

22. Back to the starting questions • Obstacles and difficulties? • Certainly, world is not homogenous • Lessons learned? • Many and the process is still on-going • How to proceed? • Finalize ICATUS • Initiate a World Programme on Time Use Surveys that will be launched by the United Nations Statistical Commission and would call for conducting harmonized time use surveys at regular intervals in each country