The Daily. Tuesday, November 9, 1999

General Social Survey: Time use

One-third of Canadians aged 25 to 44 identified themselves as workaholics and more than half admitted to worrying that they do not have enough time to spend with their family and friends, according to new data from the General Social Survey (GSS).

In addition, almost half of the people in this age group reported that they felt trapped in a daily routine. Only about one-quarter of these individuals said they planned to slow down in the coming year.

The GSS assessed responses from almost 11,000 Canadians aged 15 and over to measure the extent of time-stress in their daily lives and to determine which individuals were most prone to this kind of stress. Those who agreed with 7 out of 10 questions about stress were determined to be severely time-stressed.

Overall, Canadians reported somewhat elevated levels of severe time-stress in 1998 compared with 1992, the date of the last survey. About 21% of all women aged 15 and over perceived themselves as time-stressed, up from 16% six years earlier. The proportion of men reporting time-stress increased from 12% in 1992 to 16% in 1998.

Time-stressed population

Severely time-stressed individuals aged 15 and over spent more of their days doing some form of work, either paid or unpaid, than low-stress individuals. Time-stressed men spent 9.7 hours and time-stressed women spent 9.4 hours per day on total work activities. This is 2.8 hours more for both these men and women than those who reported low levels of time-stress. Those who were severely time-stressed also had less free time - 2.2 hours less for men and 2.0 hours less for women. Free time is defined as the time spent on leisure activities, like playing sports, watching television and socializing.

Between 1992 and 1998, the proportion of men aged 25 to 44 who reported being time-stressed increased at a faster rate than the proportion of women. About one quarter of men and women in this age group reported being severely time-stressed. For men this was an increase from less than one in six in 1992. (Overall, the 25 to 44 age group represented 41% of the population aged 15 and over in 1998.)

Note to readers This release is based on Cycle 12 of the General Social Survey (GSS), which examined the time use of Canadians in 1998. This survey was previously conducted in 1992 and 1986. The target population of the 1998 GSS consisted of all individuals aged 15 and over living in a private household in all provinces. The representative sample had 10,749 respondents. Data were collected over a 12-month period from February 1998 to January 1999 using a computer-assisted telephone interview system. The GSS asked respondents to report a diary of their time use over a 24-hour period. This diary provided information on how Canadians allocated their time for work, both paid and unpaid, as well as personal and leisure activities. GSS respondents were asked to answer yes or no to a series of 10 questions on their perception of time. Their responses were used to create a measure of time-stress. Those who agreed with seven or more were considered to have high levels of time-stress. The GSS Cycle 12 also surveyed Canadians on a number of other topics including Internet use, self-directed learning, paid and unpaid work, volunteering, quality of life, attendance at various cultural events, television viewing habits and sports participation. A public use microdata file, which has been screened for confidentiality, is now available.

Levels of stress varied with "role complexity", or the number of duties an individual has to undertake. Not surprisingly, time-stress levels were highest for married men and women aged 25 to 44 who were employed full time with children at home. More than one in three of the women in this group (38%) reported they were time-stressed - the highest percentage of any group. This compares with just over one-quarter (26%) of married men in the same situation. Married women aged 25 to 44 who were employed full time and who did not have a child at home were less likely to be time-stressed.

Just over three million individuals consider themselves workaholics

About one third of men and women in the 25 to 44 age group, representing just over three million Canadians, considered themselves workaholics in 1998.

Similarly, just over half of men and women aged 25 to 44, or about 4.9 million individuals, felt that they did not have enough time for family or friends. Almost as many said that they felt trapped in a daily routine. About 4 out of 10 men and women aged 15 to 24 also said the same.

In addition, fewer than half of the individuals aged 25 to 44 believed that their feelings of stress would change in the future. Only one quarter of these adults said they plan to slow down in the coming year.

Relief comes with age

Data from the survey suggest that relief from stress does come with age. Overall, time-related stress levels virtually disappeared among the oldest age groups, where retirement and empty nests become more common with time.

For example, only 14% of women aged 55 to 64 reported high stress levels in 1998, with men that age even less likely to feel that way. For seniors aged 65 and over, reported feelings of severe time-stress were virtually non-existent.

Even some young people were stressed

Even young people under age 25, including those of high school age, reported some fairly high levels of time-stress. While young people were less likely to be time-stressed than other age groups as a whole, young women were twice as likely as young men to be severely time stressed.

Families losing in the "struggle to juggle"

In 1998, more people indicated that they did not have enough time for their family compared with 1992. Not surprisingly, the survey showed that men aged 25 to 44 who were married parents and employed full time spent less time than their female counterparts with members of their household, an average of 5.6 hours per day compared with 6.1 for women.

One in three of the people in the above role group were dissatisfied with the balance between their work and family life. Not having enough time for family, including their spouses and children, was the main reason for their dissatisfaction.

Furthermore, 85% of full-time employed, married women with at least one child at home and 79% of their male counterparts felt that weekdays were too short to accomplish what they wanted. About half of them reported that their first priority, given more time, would be to spend it with friends and family.

However, this goal seems further away than in 1992. Severely time-stressed women in this group did 36.0 hours of unpaid work per week, compared with 31.4 hours per week for those with a low level of time-stress.

Among these married mothers with full-time employment, those who had a child under age 5 at home were even more likely (almost half of them) to feel time-stressed. The amount of housework done by their partner (e.g., laundry, grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning) did not appear to reduce the likelihood of the mother being time-stressed.

More work and stress, less personal and free time

Those who have the most responsibilities were also those who tended to work the longest days. The "struggle to juggle" in 1998 was most difficult for those aged 25 to 44 who were married parents and employed full time. Overall, men in this group averaged 48.6 hours and women averaged 38.8 hours per week of paid work and work-related activities. This was an increase of 2.0 hours per week since 1992 for both men and women.

For many people in this group, an increase in paid work did not result in a reduction in unpaid work. These individuals spent approximately one half-hour more per week on unpaid work than in 1992. Men spent 22.8 hours each week at unpaid work and women spent 34.4 hours. Unpaid work includes household work, childcare, shopping, helping others, volunteering and civic activities.

A decrease in leisure time accompanied longer hours spent working. These married mothers and fathers with full-time employment had the least leisure time compared with men and women in the other age and role groups, except for lone-parent mothers. Lone-parent mothers aged 25 to 44 who were employed full time did slightly more combined paid and unpaid work than their married counterparts and equalled their married counterparts for the dubious distinction of having the least leisure time (3.6 hours per day averaged over a 7-day week).

For those who were married parents and employed full time, the time-use patterns were even more revealing after considering the reported level of time-stress. Men reporting high levels of time-stress spent 52.3 hours per week on paid work. They also spent 24.1 hours per week on unpaid work. In comparison, their low time-stress counterparts reported an average 44.8 hours per week on paid work and 22.7 hours of unpaid work.

Additional tabular results are now available free in Overview of the time use of Canadians, 1998 (12F0080XIE, free) on Statistics Canada's Web site (www.statcan.ca) under Products and services then Downloadable publications (free). For in-depth analysis on the many topics covered by the survey, data may also be obtained by purchasing a custom tabulation or the public use microdata file (12M0012XCB, $1,600). Similar files based on the 1992 and 1986 surveys are also available. See How to order publications.

For more information about these products and services, contact the Client Services and Dissemination Unit (613-951-5979; fax: 613 951-0387; hfsslf@statcan.gc.ca), Housing, Family and Social Statistics Division.

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Cynthia Silver (613-951-2101; silvcyn@statcan.gc.ca), Housing, Family and Social Statistics Division.

Time-stressed population by sex and role group¹

1998

Average time spent on various activities by level of time-stress for selected groups

1998