How do persons with disabilities spend their time?

Released: 2022-12-02

In recognition of International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Statistics Canada is releasing two products.

The first product is a fact sheet titled "Time use among persons with disabilities in Canada," which examines how persons with disabilities spend their days on selected activities. This analysis of time use provides an overview of the experiences of persons with disabilities, particularly their perceptions of time. Persons with disabilities were more likely to have negative perceptions of time and high levels of stress. Data for this analysis come from the General Social Survey (GSS) on Time Use, 2015, which included the Disability Screening Questions (DSQ). For more information on the DSQ, see A New Survey Measure of Disability: the Disability Screening Questions (DSQ).

The second product is an infographic titled "Measuring disability in Canada" released by the Centre for Gender, Diversity and Inclusion Statistics. This infographic provides brief, easily understood information about concepts and terms used within the analysis of disability data.

Time spent on unpaid and paid work activities echo findings for the overall population

Previous research using 2015 GSS Time Use data, Time Use: Total work burden, unpaid work, and leisure, found that women spent more time on unpaid work activities, while men spent more time on paid work activities. Findings for persons with disabilities show similar trends. Among people who reported performing unpaid work, women with disabilities spent more time per day doing these activities than men with disabilities (4.0 versus 3.1 hours). Unpaid work activities include performing household chores or maintenance, caring for children or other adults and shopping for goods or services. In contrast, among people who reported performing paid work, men with disabilities spent more time engaged in paid work per day (7.9 hours) compared with women with disabilities (7.3 hours); this aligns with results from the Canadian Survey on Disability, A demographic, employment and income profile of Canadians with disabilities aged 15 years and over, 2017.

Among both men and women who engaged in unpaid work activities, the average amount of time spent on these activities did not differ significantly by disability status. Similarly, among men and women who engaged in paid work activities, the average amount of time spent on these activities did not differ significantly by disability status. This suggests that gender likely plays a greater role than disability in determining time spent on paid and unpaid work.

Persons with disabilities require more time for personal activities than persons without disabilities

Personal activities—including sleeping, personal care and eating or drinking—are required to maintain overall well-being. Persons with disabilities spent on average 11.1 hours on a given day on these activities, compared with 10.7 hours for persons without disabilities. Furthermore, women with disabilities spent more time on personal activities than women without disabilities (11.2 versus 11.0 hours) and men with disabilities spent more time on these activities than men without disabilities (10.8 versus 10.5 hours). These findings support previous research which indicated that the additional time required for personal activities can be a burden on persons with disabilities.

Persons with disabilities report feeling more stress than persons without disabilities

While differences in time spent on various activities between persons with and without disabilities were generally small, persons with disabilities were more likely to report negative perceptions of time. Nearly one-quarter (23.4%) of persons with disabilities reported a high level of stress, compared with 11.9% of persons without disabilities. Additionally, persons with disabilities were more likely than those without disabilities to report feeling that they are constantly under stress as they try to accomplish more than they can handle (45.1% versus 29.4%), are trapped in their daily routine (42.5% versus 28.9%), have no time for fun (34.4% versus 22.7%) and do not accomplish what they set out to do in a day (51.8% versus 36.5%).

Women were more likely than men, regardless of disability status, to report negative perceptions of time, which aligns with previous research, Time Use: Total work burden, unpaid work, and leisure. However, disability also plays a role in these perceptions, as in many instances, men and women with disabilities were more likely than men and women without disabilities to report negative perceptions of time. For example, women with disabilities were more likely than women without disabilities to report feeling that they are constantly under stress (48.4% versus 31.0%), as were men with disabilities as compared with men without disabilities (41.0% versus 27.8%).

Looking ahead

Time Use Survey (TUS) for 2022 is currently in collection. The TUS for 2022 will enable analysis of time use by disability type and severity, provided that there is adequate sample size, as the long version of the DSQ has been included within the questionnaire.

Products

The fact sheet "Time use among persons with disabilities in Canada," which is part of the publication Reports on Disability and Accessibility in Canada (Catalogue number89-654-X), is now available.

The infographic "Measuring disability in Canada," which is part of Statistics Canada - Infographics (Catalogue number11-627-M), is now available.

Contact information

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).