Time Use Statistics Workshop for Arabic Speaking Countries 25 – 28 April 2011, Amman, Jordan Classification of Time Use Activities United Nations Statistics Division Srdjan Mrkić, Chief, Social Statistics

Time Use Statistics Workshop for Arabic Speaking Countries 25 – 28 April 2011, Amman, Jordan 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

Time Use Statistics Workshop for Arabic Speaking Countries 25 – 28 April 2011, Amman, Jordan 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

Time Use Statistics Workshop for Arabic Speaking Countries 25 – 28 April 2011, Amman, Jordan 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

Time Use Statistics Workshop for Arabic Speaking Countries 25 – 28 April 2011, Amman, Jordan  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 ICATUS - Purpose

Time Use Statistics Workshop for Arabic Speaking Countries 25 – 28 April 2011, Amman, Jordan  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 Design principles

Time Use Statistics Workshop for Arabic Speaking Countries 25 – 28 April 2011, Amman, Jordan  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 Concept

Time Use Statistics Workshop for Arabic Speaking Countries 25 – 28 April 2011, Amman, Jordan  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) Main categories

Time Use Statistics Workshop for Arabic Speaking Countries 25 – 28 April 2011, Amman, Jordan  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 Five “SNA work activities” major divisions

Time Use Statistics Workshop for Arabic Speaking Countries 25 – 28 April 2011, Amman, Jordan 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

Time Use Statistics Workshop for Arabic Speaking Countries 25 – 28 April 2011, Amman, Jordan 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

Time Use Statistics Workshop for Arabic Speaking Countries 25 – 28 April 2011, Amman, Jordan Quick summary Productive activitiesNon-productive (personal) Within SNA productive boundary Outside SNA productive boundary 01 Employment in the formal sector 06 Household – services for own use 09 Learning 02 Household – production of primary goods 07 Household – unpaid care 10 Socializing 03 Household – production of non-primary of goods 08 Household – volunteer work 11 Cultural, entertainment 04 Household – Construction12 Hobbies, games 05 Household – services for income 13 Sports 14 Mass media 15 Personal care

Time Use Statistics Workshop for Arabic Speaking Countries 25 – 28 April 2011, Amman, Jordan Hierarchical structure divisions three-digit code 92 groups four-digit code 200 classes five-digit code 363 sub-classes six-digit code 15 major divisions two-digit code

Time Use Statistics Workshop for Arabic Speaking Countries 25 – 28 April 2011, Amman, Jordan 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)

Time Use Statistics Workshop for Arabic Speaking Countries 25 – 28 April 2011, Amman, Jordan Fitting in a different framework Necessary time Contracted timeCommitted timeFree time 15 Personal care 01 Formal employment 06 Household – services for own use 10 Socializing 02 Household – primary production of goods 07 Household – unpaid care 11 Cultural, entertainment 03 Household – non-primary production of goods 08 Household – volunteer work 12 Hobbies, games 04 Household – Construction 13 Sports 05 Household – services for income 14 Mass media 09 Learning

Time Use Statistics Workshop for Arabic Speaking Countries 25 – 28 April 2011, Amman, Jordan 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

Time Use Statistics Workshop for Arabic Speaking Countries 25 – 28 April 2011, Amman, Jordan 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.

Time Use Statistics Workshop for Arabic Speaking Countries 25 – 28 April 2011, Amman, Jordan 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

Time Use Statistics Workshop for Arabic Speaking Countries 25 – 28 April 2011, Amman, Jordan 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

Time Use Statistics Workshop for Arabic Speaking Countries 25 – 28 April 2011, Amman, Jordan 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 A number of events in developing countries Pressure from gender sector Pressure from gender sector Development of gender statistics Development of gender statistics  Global Forum on Gender Statistics Increased pressure for more accurate indicators Increased pressure for more accurate indicators  Stiglitz-Sen-Fitoussi Report

Time Use Statistics Workshop for Arabic Speaking Countries 25 – 28 April 2011, Amman, Jordan 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

Time Use Statistics Workshop for Arabic Speaking Countries 25 – 28 April 2011, Amman, Jordan 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