Classifying Household Production Activities

Classifying Household Production Activities Gretchen Donehower Day 1, Session 2, NTA Time Use and Gender Workshop Monday, May 21, 2012 Institute for Labor, Science and Social Affairs (ILSSA) Hanoi, Vietnam

Outline • General principles of identifying household productive activities • Groups of NTTA activities • Time Use Survey Activity Classification • Examples • Multiple activities at one time • US Example Stata Code

General Principles of Identifying Household Productive Activities • Not already included in national accounts • So market production is NOT included • Unpaid family labor that generates market income is not included, even if the person who did the work did not get paid • Satisfies third party criterion • You could pay someone else to do it for you • Leisure, education, and many self-care activities do NOT satisfy this criterion • It still counts if the activity is pleasurable, as long as it satisfies the third party criterion • Another way to think about it: if I did not do this myself, would I have to pay someone else to do it for me?

Time Use Survey Activity Classification • Major activity groups, sub-divided into lower level groups and then final classification • Sometimes major activity groups will be completely household production, completely market production, or completely non-productive; or they may be a mixture • Need to look carefully at the codes and activities • See if anyone has done similar research using this survey; what activities did they choose?

Groups of NTA Activities • Cleaning • Laundry (includes sewing and clothing repair) • Cooking (food and drink preparation) • Household maintenance and repair • Lawn and garden care • Household management (incl. finances, scheduling, coordinating, and related telephone calls) • Pet care (not veterinary care) • Purchasing goods and services • Childcare ** • Eldercare and care outside the home (includes volunteering) ** • Travel (related to care activities and purchasing goods and services) DOES THIS SEEM REASONABLE? HAVE I FORGOTTEN ANYTHING? WOULD A DIFFERENT SET OF ACTIVITIES MAKE MORE SENSE FOR YOUR COUNTRIES? ** Will need to be divided into variables for care in hh versus outside hh

Example: UN Classification • International Classification of Activities for Time Use Statistics (ICATUS) is used in many surveys: • Personal care • Employment for establishments • Primary production activities not for establishments • Services for income and other production of goods not for establishments • Household maintenance, management and shopping for own household • Care for children, the sick, elderly and disabled for own household • Community services and help to other households • Learning • Social, cultural and recreational activities • Mass media use

Example: US Survey • American Time Use Survey (ATUS) scheme: • Personal care • Household activities • Caring for and helping household members • Caring for and helping non-household members • Work and work-related activities • Education • Consumer purchases • Professional and personal care services (MIXED) • Household services • Government services and civic obligations (MIXED) • Eating and drinking • Socializing, relaxing and leisure • Sports, exercise and recreation • Religious and spiritual activities • Volunteer activities • Telephone calls (MIXED) • Traveling (MIXED)

Schemes for Coding Multiple Activities • Use same criteria as for primary activity to decide if a secondary activity is household production or not • How to include? • If more than one productive activity at a time, divide the time equally between the two productive activities • If one productive and one non-productive activity is being done at a time, count the time completely towards the productive activity

Example US Stata Code • See handout

Lab Session • Write code for your country that does the same calculations as the example code for the US • This code identifies household production activities in 11 groups and calculates age- and sex-specific averages for time spent in those activities

Classifying Household Production Activities