Guidelines for Harmonizing Time-Use Surveys

Abstract

Since the 1970s, policymakers have increasingly recognized the value of time-use information. In most developed countries, time-use surveys have become an integral part of social statistics and the number of countries that collect time-use data is rising. The international scope of time-use surveys has raised the need for the exchange of good practices and for coordination in defining the concepts, methodology and ways of aggregating the results. Recognizing this, the Conference of European Statisticians (CES) conducted an in-depth review of time-use surveys in 2010. The review highlighted the need to improve the comparability of time-use surveys across countries and the usefulness of developing further practical guidelines for their implementation. It concluded with the establishment of the Task Force on Time-Use Surveys, which worked from 2011 to 2013 on developing the present Guidelines. The Task Force was chaired by the Australian Bureau of Statistics and included experts from ten national statistical offices on three continents, international organizations and academics. The draft Guidelines were consulted with all members of CES in April-May 2013. In June 2013, the CES plenary session reviewed the results and requested the Task Force to reflect the comments from the consultation in the Guidelines. In October 2013, the CES Bureau endorsed the present Guidelines. The objectives of these Guidelines are to (a) help statisticians and policymakers understand the importance of time-use surveys, (b) provide guidance in the design and implementation of time-use surveys, and (c) improve the international comparability of their results. The Guidelines include recommendations of preferred or best practice, based on the experience of member countries of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and other developed countries participating in the work of CES. While the Guidelines mainly target national statistical authorities that carry out time -use surveys, they also provide useful information for policymakers, researchers and other users of time-use data. UNECE is grateful to all the experts who were involved in the preparation of these Guidelines.