Time use in Scotland 2020: ONS Online Time Use Survey - gender analysis

1. Key findings

This report analyses the Scottish component of the 2020 Online Time Use Survey (OTUS) with a focus on gender differences. The Scottish sample was made up of 556 people, and 917 diary days. 317 participants were women (a total of 520 diary days) and 239 were men (397 diary days). Data were weighted in order to correct for differences in sample size between men and women, and to ensure they reflect the profile of the Scottish population.

Participants filled in online time use diaries detailing their daily activities. The main activities analysed in this report are:

• Paid work which includes working from home and away from home for monetary reward
• Unpaid work which includes a number of activities: housework/cooking; household management; childcare; travel; study and other unpaid work
• Free-time which includes a range of social, leisure, cultural and entertainment activities, such as watching the television, or hiking
• Personal care which includes activities which a person does for themselves, such as sleeping or eating

Key Findings

Figure 1: Time spent on selected activities* by gender, 2020

*activities selected are those where women and men spent significantly different amounts of time (total sample)

As demonstrated in the above chart, there were a number of statistically significant[1] differences in time use between men and women:

• Women spent more time on:
  • Unpaid work overall: on average, per day, women spent 266 minutes (4 hours 26 minutes) on unpaid work, while men devoted 211 minutes (3 hours 31 minutes).
  • Housework/cooking: within the unpaid work category, women spent more time on housework/cooking, with an average of 127 minutes (just over 2 hours) per day, compared to men who spent 75 minutes (1 hour 15 minutes) per day .
  • Leisure/social activities: that is leisure activities which often have a social element, for example telephoning, texting, emailing or writing letters with friends and family. Women spent an average of 85 minutes (1 hour 25 minutes) per day on these activities, compared to men who spent 46 minutes per day.
• Men spent more time on:
  • 'Other leisure activities': that is leisure activities which have less of a social element, for example browsing the internet. Men spent significantly more time than women on these activities - an average of 291 minutes (just under 5 hours) a day, compared to an average of 240 minutes (just under 4 hours) a day for women.

Figure 2: Time spent on selected activities* by gender, 2020

* activities selected are those where women and men spent significantly different amounts of time (includes only the proportion of sample working on a given day)

• Men also spent more time on:
  • Paid work: amongst the proportion of the sample who worked on a given day, men spent significantly more time in paid work overall - with an average of 433 minutes (7 hours 13 minutes) per working day, compared to women, who took part in paid work for an average of 370 minutes (6 hours 10 minutes) a day. Men spent significantly more time in work away from home specifically. An average of 417 minutes (just under 7 hours) per day compared to 361 minutes (6 hours) per day for women.