Data from time use surveys provide information on the time use of persons belonging to different population groups and household types. Unpaid work such as housework and childcare, voluntary work or help provided to neighbours is of particular interest here. However, information is gathered also on education and leisure activities, for instance the use of media. The results can be used in particular as valuable basic material for the discussion of and research into issues of women and family politics. As the complete 24-hour day is covered, time use surveys also provide information on a wide variety of other subjects. These may be topics as different as the time use of elderly people, the use of means of transport etc. and mobility or working time arrangements. The first time use survey was carried out in Germany in 1991/1992; ten years later, in 2001/2002, another study was conducted. The new survey does not only show the present time use of the population but makes it possible to describe changes as compared to the results of the first survey. The design chosen for the survey meets the methodological requirements set for European time use surveys by the Statistical Office of the European Communities, Eurostat. Thus comparisons can be made with other European countries.
Preliminary work has now been undertaken for a new time use survey to be conducted in 2012/13. The Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, which will need the relevant results for a range of tasks, has again been involved in financing the project. Results are expected to be published in 2015 Preliminary work has now been undertaken for a new time use survey to be conducted in 2012/13. The Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, which will need the relevant results for a range of tasks, has again been involved in financing the project. Results are expected to be published in 2015.
How was the 2001/2002 time use survey conducted?
The time use survey was commissioned by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth and conducted by the Federal Statistical Office in co-operation with the statistical offices of the Länder. The method used was quota sampling covering more than 5 400 households with over 12 000 persons and a total of 37 000 descriptions of individual days. The data obtained were adjusted to the microcensus and expanded to the population aged ten years and over living in private households. To avoid seasonal distortions, the survey was taken over the year from April 2001 to the end of March 2002. In order to reflect the time use as exactly as possible, all persons aged ten years and over belonging to the households selected were asked to record their day in a diary for a period of three days. The participants could describe both main activities and simultaneous activities they had been engaged in at the same time in their own words. In addition, they could indicate just by ticking where and with whom the time was spent. The duration of the individual activities was marked on a time scale subdivided into ten-minute intervals. To standardise the numerous different diary entries for the purposes of data processing, a list containing more than 230 different activities was used for data acquisition. Additionally, the participants filled in a personal questionnaire containing questions about their personal situation, for instance about age, gender, labour force participation, voluntary work, help provided to other households, vocational and other qualifications. Each participating household was furthermore asked to provide information about the composition of the household, the housing situation and the infrastructure of the residential surroundings, assistance rendered by private individuals or financial aid and the household income in a household questionnaire.
Which results are published?
The information contained in the diary, the personal and the household questionnaires provide a complete picture of the population’s time use and the way people live together in households and families. First results are provided in the brochure "Wo bleibt die Zeit" (How time is spent), which was presented at a joint press conference with the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth on 2 December 2003. For more detailed evaluations, the Federal Statistical Office and the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth appointed an evaluation council consisting of scientists from various subject areas. The members of that council presented their findings relating to different topics at the core of the time use survey at a conference on 16 and 17 February 2004. In connection with that conference, a publication on the results will be issued containing the individual papers. Furthermore, Volume I containing tables is available in electronic form and can be downloaded free of charge from the publication service (only in German). Besides, the data of the 2001/2002 time use survey - just as the data of the 1991/1992 survey - have been available to the general public in the form of scientific or public use files since September 2005 and November 2006, respectively. For more detailed information on the time use survey please refer to the relevant quality report (only in German).
