workshop on gender statistics, 4-7 december 2012, ugandasocial and housing statistics section...

Workshop on Gender Statistics, 4-7 December 2012, Uganda Social and Housing Statistics Sectionunstats.un.org

Integrating a Gender Perspective into Time Use Statistics

Session 8

Rachid [email protected]


What are Time Use Statistics?

• Quantitative summaries of how individuals “spend” or allocate their time over a specified period (typically over the 24 hours of a day or over the 7 days of a week)

• They shed light on:→ What individuals in the reference

population do or the activities they engage in

→ How much time is spent doing each of these activities


An “emerging” field?

TUS since 1990:• 185 Time use surveys were conducted worldwide→ 92 (50%) in “developing countries”→ 93 (50%) in “developed countries” (total of 35

countries/territories only)

• In total 85 distinct countries:→ 28 “developed countries” (that is 80% of developed countries

which conducted a TUS)→ 57 “developing countries” (that is around 36% of developing

countries which conducted a TUS)


An “emerging” field?

“Developed countries” “Developing countries”

Number of countries with pilot surveys only 3 (11%) 10 (18%)

Average number of surveys conducted 3.3 1.6

Kaplan-Meier estimation of the average duration between 2 surveys

7 years 9 years

% of “Light diaries” 13 16

% of classifications used in last survey since 2000

0.0% ICATUS-based59% HETUS-based

23% Others18% Missing

26% ICATUS-based40% HETUS-based

26% Others9% Missing


Current context: growing interest• So far in developed countries, main purpose = traditional

concern of labour-leisure tradeoff

However, revival of interest:• “Stiglitz Commission” on the Measurement of Economic

Performance and Social progress : Recommendation 5 ("Broaden income measures to non-market activities")

"This should start with information on how people spend their time that is comparable both over the years and across countries. Comprehensive and periodic accounts of household activity as satellites to the core national accounts should complement the picture“

• Supplementing National Accounts through Satellite accounts


Implications for Gender Statistics

• This need of improving the measurement of unpaid activities and household production coincides with the general aim of integrating gender perspectives into official statistics

• Reveals activities and social phenomena which are not well captured in traditional statistical system but where inequalities between women and men are numerous and complex (drastic change of women’s contribution to GDP for example, distribution of domestic tasks within the household…)


Flash-back: underutilization of Time Use Data


Outline

• My presentation will be divided into two main parts

1) How Time Use data can cover some areas relevant for Gender Statistics that have been quite neglected so far

2) Critical points specific to Time Use data collection to be considered in order to limit “gender bias”


Flash back II: Uncovered areas

Frequency of production of different types of gender statistics

PovertyMorbidity

Sexual and reproductive health

Disability

Access to health services

Adolescent fertility

Violence against w omen

Pow er and decision making

Unpaid w ork

Agriculture

ICT

Access to sanitation

Access to clean w ater

Informal Employment

Child marriage

Entrepreneurship

Media

Satellite accounts

Education

MortalityUnemployment

Labour force

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

80.0

90.0

100.0

20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0 80.0 90.0 100.0

All countries

ECA region

Many areas related to the contribution of women and men in the economy


Unpaid work

Limitations of conventional labour statistics:• Activities that contribute to the production of goods and services as defined by the SNA and cover mainly market activities and some unpaid non-market activities. •Unpaid work referring to own account production of services are outside the general boundary of SNA and therefore not covered at all


Unpaid work

Examples of unpaid work:•Unpaid domestic services for own final use within household: cleaning, cooking, do-it-yourslf decoration•Unpaid caregiving services to household members: childcare, adultcare…•Community services and help to other households: volunteering, repairs of dwellings…


Unpaid work

Why is it important for gender statistics?•Measuring unpaid work is crucial in making the contribution of women to the economy and society more visible.• Women, more often than men, tend to be involved and spend a great amount of time in unpaid work in the home and community. •When only cash transactions are taken into account in measuring the economic production, a large portion of women’s work remains unaccounted for.


Unpaid work: New Zealand

• Men and women spend about the same amount of time working: 49 hours a week.3

• However, females spent two hours a day more than males on unpaid work, while males spent two hours a day more than females on paid work.

• While approximately 60 percent of males’ work is paid, almost 70 percent of females’ work is unpaid.


Satellite Accounts

• Definition: the System of National Accounts recommends the use of supplementary accounts for nonmarket activities rather than the expansion of existing accounts.

→ Allow for experimentation with changes in scope and measurement.

→ Consistent and could be used with the existing national accounts without overburdening them


Satellite Accounts

• Direct application of measuring unpaid work: estimating household production in satellite accounts that extend measurement of gross domestic product (GDP) to include non-SNA production

• Makes the national accounts more complete and comparable across countries


Satellite Accounts: major challenge • How to valuate household time: different approachesi. Opportunity cost approach: Focus on the intrinsic

productivity of the individual. Time spent on doing unpaid work valued as potential time non spent on the labour market regardless of the activity

ii. Market price approach: Focus on the specificity of the unpaid activity which is done. Valued as if it was done by a professional. Within: different concepts and methods to determine the exact hourly compensation

TUS data should be in line with the concepts and the avaibility of Labour statistics


Satellite Accounts: Philippines


Outline

• My presentation will be divided into two main parts

1) How Time Use data can cover some areas relevant for Gender Statistics that have been quite neglected so far

2) Critical points specific to Time Use data collection to be considered in order to limit “gender bias”


Diary versus stylized questionnaire

Two main types of survey instrument to collect TUS data1)Stylized questionnaire2)24 hour diary


Stylized questionnaires

• Specific questions where the respondents need to recall the amount of time spent on the related activities.

• May target specific activities or be designed to be as exhaustive as possible so as to capture a complete period of time (24 hours, a week)


Stylized questionnaires

Pros•Less expensive•Preferable for a specific and short time period

Cons•High degree of errors↘“Normative editing”: Under or over reporting of socially marked activities (ex: childcare versus watching television)↘Memory recall errors↘Not measuring simultaneous activities: gender bias


24 hour diary

• Writing verbatim descriptions of activities that are coded later on to an activity classification

• “Light” diary


24 hour diary

Pros•Provide more reliable and accurate data•More flexible and more powerful for data dissemination•Allows to record simultaneous activities

Cons•More costly in terms of data collection and data coding•Burden on the respondents (pressure on the participation rates)


Stylized questionnaires vs 24 hour diary: conclusions• The statistical community recognizes that the 24 hour diary is

the best instrument to collect Time Use data and to avoid biases in activity reporting including gender bias. Many discrepancies affect the distribution of the activities within the household and so between women and men, such as domestic tasks or childcare.

• However, the country should be prepared to face the financial and technical requirements to conduct a diary-based survey


Simultaneous activities


Contextual variables

• Definition: “contextual variables” describe the context, the conditions within which an activity takes place

• Examples: Location, for whom, use of a computer….• There are 2 dimensions to consider in terms of

“gender awareness”1) The nature of the “contextual variable”2) Their position in the survey package


The nature of the contextual variables• The statistician should select the relevant contextual

variable required for the main purposes of the survey. Especially, they should be in line with te classification (see below)

• Example: For unpaid work, whether the activity is “paid” , for whom


The position of the contextual variablesThere are 3 locations to collect contextual variables (diary-based survey):The diary (for each activity)The household/individual questionnaire (characteristics of the formal work)Within the classification (“I cook” vs “I cook for my kids”)•The position is strategic because it will determine the scope of the areas that could be covered↘Example: Unpaid work and Informal Employment


The Classification of Activities

• Reflects the most recurrent activities at the country level (through pilot or previous survey)

• Detailed enough to identify separately activities mainly undertaken by women or by men

• Example: ICATUS↘ Particularly in line with the SNA↘ Oriented to measure unpaid work

and set up satellite accounts↘ Trial version since 2005 but

finalization in progress (Expert Group Meeting in 2012)

Major divisions of ICATUS 2012 (provisional)1.SNA work and related activities2.Unpaid domestic services for own final use within household3.Unpaid caregiving services to household members4.Community services and help to other households5.Learning6.Socializing, community participation and religious practice7.Leisure and sports8.Self-care and maintenance


Conclusion

• TUS transversal topic: opportunity to gather statisticians from diverse backgrounds

• Gender statisticians should intervene in two main phases of the survey:

Conception phase: 1) Inform the general public and the administration of the

benefits of conducting a TUS (especially because they are costly and need the support of many stakeholders)

2) Participate in the Task force in charge of elaborating the survey


Conclusion

Dissemination/Analysis: Role to advocate for more analysis and provide your expertise (under-exploitation because data very difficult to use, make sure that satellite accounts are attempted)

Further information disclosed the UN “Guide” to producing Statistics on Time Use”


Many thanks for your attention and Many thanks for your attention and your questionsyour questions

workshop on gender statistics, 4-7 december 2012, ugandasocial and housing statistics section...

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