Measuring time use in households with more than one person

Measuring time use in households with more than one person The U.S. Government's first-ever national time-use survey will collect time diary data from one respondent per household, forgoing the opportunity to provide information about how nonmarket time is allocated between husbands and wives; Canada's General Social Survey, similar in approach, uses stylized questions to elicit that very information I n an effort to measure time spent on unpaid activities such as commuting, performing housework, and spending time with one's children , the Bureau of Labor Statistics is designing the Government's first national time-use survey. 1 A large number of countries, including Australia and Canada, also have national surveys underway. A recent publication of the National Research Council makes a convincing argument that Government time-use surveys should be designed with an eye toward finding out about how nonmarket time is allocated in households with more than one person—that is, how domestic partners divide the time they spend on tasks such as housework and child care. 2 As just one example , time-use data are needed on both partners to fully assess the challenges faced by workers in dual-earner families as they seek to balance the competing demands of paid work and family. 3 Indeed , argues Timothy M. Smeeding, " time use data may be as important as income, consumption , and wealth data for informing public policy. " 4 As described in the National Research Council volume and as reviewed in this article, Australia, the United States, and Canada have adopted somewhat different survey methodologies. Their varying approaches have implications for both the type and quality of data gathered. Australia, for instance, which has undertaken one of the most ambitious time-use collection efforts, is able to directly investigate how time is divided up between partners. Australia collects personal time diaries for all household members aged 15 and older in households with more than one person, as well as in households with one person. In these diaries, household members record how they spend their time as their day unfolds. 5 Time-use estimates collected this way have been found to be highly reliable. 6 In comparison, a considerably more modest national time-use survey has been proposed by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS, the Bureau). In the BLS survey, diary reports will be collected from one respondent per household, using a subsample of households that recently completed their final Current Population …