AmericanTimeUseStudyKadrick HendersonStephanie CastonVyacheslav YakushenkoChristy Case

Data DescriptionOverview

The American Time Use Survey (ATUS) provides nationally representative estimates of how, where, and with whom Americans spend their time, and is the only federal survey providing data on the full range of nonmarket activities, from childcare to volunteering

ATUS data files are used by researchers to study a broad range of issues; the data files include information collected from over 148,000 interviews conducted from 2003 to 2013

ATUS data files can be linked to data files from the Current Population Survey (CPS). This expands the context in which time-use data can be analyzed and saves taxpayer money because fewer questions must be asked in the ATUS interview

Data DescriptionUsesEconomic research The Bureau of Economic Analysis

To measure the value of unpaid work, including volunteering, child care, and household activities

Researchers at the Bureau of Labor Statistics To examine the time Americans spend working at home

and how this additional work time can be used to enhance traditional measures of worker productivity

Continuous collection Has been used to measure changes in the time

Americans spend; • Working• Doing household production• In leisure at different points in a business cycle

Data DescriptionUsesHealth and safety The Bureau of Transportation Statistics

To measure exposure to vehicle accident risk The Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics

As a "use of time indicator" in the publication, Older Americans: Key Indicators of Well-Being

The Economic Research Service at the Department of Agriculture used ATUS data To examine eating and drinking patterns and how they

relate to a person's overall health To look at how Americans use food assistance program

Sleep researchers To measure the tradeoffs Americans make between sleep,

work, commuting, and other activities, and how they relate to overall health

Data DescriptionUses

Family and work-life balance Researchers

Estimate how much time mothers and fathers spend with their children

Estimate how that time has changed over time ATUS researchers study

How working parents find the time to balance the demands of childcare, work, leisure, and other activities in their lives

ATUS data show How different groups of Americans spend their leisure

time such as;• Watching television• Socializing with their neighbors• Exercising

Data DescriptionUses

International comparisons The United Nations Development Programme's

Human Development Report This report compares people's well-being across different

countries and demographic groups and sheds light on how Americans' well-being is different from those in other nations

The United Nations' Gender Statistics Database The database allows researchers to generate time-use

estimates across different countries and demographic groups These data help researchers better understand the roles that

men and women play in society in different countries The Organization for Economic Co-operation and

Development's Society at a Glance: OECD Social Indicators 2011

Questions for Visual Analysis How are men and women with/without children

affected in terms of activities?• From the analysis, males (TESEX: 1)with no children who generally

work about 40-50 hours a week(TEHRUSLT) spend no time at all physically caring for household children(t030101). This is completely logical, and trends adjust as the number of children increases for that male.

Males who generally work about 40-50 hrs/week with one child, spends very little time caring for that child.

Questions for Visual Analysis How are men and women with/without children

affected in terms of activities?

Males who generally work about 40-50 hrs/week with two children, tend to spend slightly more time with their children.

Questions for Visual Analysis How are men and women with/without children

affected in terms of activities?

Males who generally work about 40-50 hrs/week with three children are much the same as males with 2 children.

Questions for Visual Analysis How are men and women with/without children

affected in terms of activities?

Women who generally work about 40-50 hrs/week with one child, spends progressively more time caring for their children than men at the same level of analysis.

Questions for Visual Analysis How are men and women with/without children

affected in terms of activities?

Women who generally work about 40-50 hrs/week with two children, spends progressively more time caring for their children than with one child.

Questions for Visual Analysis How are men and women with/without children

affected in terms of activities? The trend seems to increase for working women, even as the

number of children increases, so too, do the time mothers spend with their children. (Slide 1)

Questions for Visual Analysis How are men and women with/without children

affected in terms of activities?(Slide 2)

Questions for Visual Analysis What activities are more prevalent amongst the

different demographics?One can also easily, examine the demographics of the various respondents. The demographic based attributes include: Education (PEEDUCA), Race (PTDTRACE), Age (TEAGE), Labor status (TELFS), Sex (TESEX), Number of children (TRCHILDNUM), and total hours usually worked/week (TEHRUSLT).Here is an instance where respondents with a Bachelor’s Degree (PEEDUCA = 43) between the ages of 20-40 (TEAGE) are analyzed.

Questions for Visual Analysis What associations can be found amongst the activity

data presented?No matter what scope of demographics one analyzes, it seems there are only nuances in the change of activity ratio. Here is a chart to show the general trend in analysis.

Rather than focusing on the nuances of demographically charged data, one can focus on the general trends in activity by selecting and adjusting the various levels of analysis.