BLS Releases Time Use Survey Results

On September 14, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) quietly released the first results of a scheduled ongoing estimate of time spent by Americans in various activities, cross-tabulated by demographic and labor force characteristics, by weekend/weekday status, and over time. American Time Use Survey (ATUS) data are collected continuously by telephoning the estimated 2,200 households per month that have just completed their participation in the Current Population Survey (CPS) panel. Once a household is selected, a reference person is designated at random and assigned a reference "day." The reference day is always the previous 24-hour period, such as Tuesday the 5th when the contact is made on Wednesday the 6th. Interviews are conducted by telephone in English or Spanish, with basic information carried over electronically from the CPS. This ingenious method is cost effective, as well as efficient from the standpoint of the information that is available for use.

Using a sophisticated computer-assisted interviewing protocol that strives to be consistent with parallel data gathering efforts ongoing in the Netherlands and Great Britain, the ATUS has the potential to provide comparative, cross-national data on time use. Several "screens" are used by the interviewer to elicit the wide range of information being requested.

According to BLS analysts Jay Stewart and Dori Allard, the results of the ATUS are coded and then organized into five subfiles (N = 21,000) linked by a common respondent ID numbers. These files are to become available as Public Use data files. The five linked files are (1) Designated Person File, (2) Roster File, (3) Activity File, (4) Who File, and (5) ATUS-CPS file.

Some potential uses of the ATUS include: estimating the value of nonmarket work, including volunteer work; verifying the accuracy of data collected from other sources (e.g., hours worked); measuring and valuing the time spent with children; comparing and understanding how people make time tradeoffs; and comparing American time use to that of other countries.

AUBERites with an interest in this new dataseries should contact Stewart or Allard at 202-691-6339 or ATUSinfo@bls.gov, and are encouraged to visit the ATUS web site at www.bls.gov/tus.

Paul Zelus
Idaho State University

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