U s e

m e
f Ti
y o
r v e
S u
A

How South African women and men spend their time

 Statistics South Africa
Private Bag X44
Pretoria 0001
South Africa

Steyn's Building
274 Schoeman Street
Pretoria

Users enquiries: (012) 310-8600

Fax: (012) 310-8500
Main switchboard: (012) 310-8911
Fax: (012) 322-3374

E-mail: info@[Link]
Website: [Link]
 U s e
i m e
f T
y o
r v e
S u
A

How South African women and men spend their time

Statistics South Africa Pali Lehohla

2001 Statistician-General
Published by Statistics South Africa, Private Bag X44, Pretoria 0001

© Statistics South Africa, 2001

This publication, including the data on which it is based, is subject to

copyright. Apart from uses permitted under the Copyright Act of 1978, no
part of it may be reproduced or copied in any format or by any process,
and no copy or reproduction may be sold, without prior permission from
Statistics South Africa.

Authors
Debbie Budlender
Analysis and Statistical Consulting
Statistics South Africa

Ntebaleng Chobokoane
Analysis and Statistical Consulting
Statistics South Africa

Yandiswa Mpetsheni
Analysis and Statistical Consulting
Statistics South Africa

Stats SA Library Cataloguing-in-Publication (CIP) Data

A survey of time use: How South African women and men spend their time /
Statistics South Africa. Pretoria: Statistics South Africa, 2001
118 p.
ISBN 0-621-30808-0

1. Time use - South Africa. 2. Gender

I. Time use in South Africa
(LCSH 16)

A complete set of Stats SA publications is available at Stats SA Library

and the following libraries:
National Library of South Africa, Pretoria Division
National Library of South Africa, Cape Town Division
Library of Parliament, Cape Town
Bloemfontein Public Library
Natal Society Library, Pietermaritzburg
Johannesburg Public Library
Eastern Cape Library Services, King William's Town
Central Regional Library, Pietersburg
Central Reference Library, Nelspruit
Central Reference Collection, Kimberley
Central Reference Library, Mmabatho

This report is obtainable on the Stats SA website: [Link]

Copies are available from: Publications, Statistics South Africa
Tel: (012) 310 8251
Fax: (012) 322 3374
E-mail: Publications@[Link]
 Contents
Executive summary
Background 1
Objectives 1
Methodology 2
The System of National Accounts and unpaid labour 3
Classification of activities 3
Some key findings 4
Conclusion 7

Definitions and concepts

Actor 9
Employment status 9
Episodes 9
Population group 10
Reproductive work 10
Settlement area (stratum) 10
System of National Accounts (SNA) 11

Chapter 1: Background and methodology

Background 13
Design of the survey 13
Questionnaire 13
Sampling 14
Pilot 16
Fieldwork 16
Training 17
Data processing 17
Weighting 17
The activity coding system 18
Special activities – child care 21
Special activities – waiting 21
Simultaneous activities 22

Chapter 2: Description of respondents

General characteristics 25
The work situation of the respondents 28

Chapter 3: Main findings

Days of the week 33
Episodes 33
Overall description of time use activities 35
Location 43
Simultaneous activities 45
Chapter 4: Examining time use activities in more detail
Economic work 49
Education by occupation 53
Unpaid labour - Housework 56
Time spent on housework in relation to access to
appliances 58
Time spent on housework in relation to sources of fuel
and water 60
Unpaid labour - Care work 66
Learning 71
Leisure 74
Personal care 76
Travel 78
Waiting 79

Chapter 5: Conclusion 81

References 85
 List of Tables
Table 1: Distribution of enumerated households by type
of settlement area 25
Table 2: Distribution (unweighted) of respondents by
background characteristics and sex 26
Table 3: Distribution (weighted) of respondents by
background characteristics and sex 27
Table 4: Percentage distribution of respondents by
monthly income category and source of income 28
Table 5: Percentage distribution of personal income
by population group and sex 29
Table 6: Percentage distribution of respondents by
occupation and sex 30
Table 7: Percentage distribution of respondents by
occupation and work status 31
Table 8: Distribution of diary days (unweighted) 33
Table 9: Mean number of episodes by ownership of a
watch and type of settlement area (weighted
figures in brackets) 34
Table 10: The ten categories of the activity coding
scheme and the mean time per day spent on
them, by sex 35
Table 11: Number of actors engaged in productive and
non-productive activities, and mean minutes
per day spent on each activity 37
Table 12: Mean minutes per day spent on productive and
non-productive activities, by age group and
sex 38
Table 13: Mean minutes per day by activity category,
population group and sex 39
Table 14: Mean minutes per day spent on productive and
non-productive activities, by employment status
and sex 39
Table 15: Mean minutes per day spent on productive and
non-productive activities, by income category
and sex 40
Table 16: Mean minutes per day spent by single and
other adults on productive and non-productive
activities, by sex 41
Table 17: Least enjoyable and most enjoyable activities
by sex 42
Table 18: Distribution of simultaneous activity by
category and sex 46
Table 19: Most common combinations of two simultaneous
activities 47
Table 20: Most common combinations of three simultaneous
activities 47
Table 21: Most common combinations of child care and
other activities 48
Table 22: Engagement in SNA activity by employment
status 51
Table 23: Engagement in refined SNA activity by
employment status 52
Table 24: Mean minutes per day spent on housework by
whether or not a domestic worker has the main
responsibility for housework and sex of
respondent 57
Table 25: Distribution of individuals who did the most
housework by sex and age 57
Table 26: Mean minutes per day spent on household
maintenance by women who are homemakers and
those who are not homemakers, by type of
dwelling 58
Table 27: Mean number of minutes per day spent on
housework, including fetching fuel and water,
by age group 60
Table 28: Distribution of households by source of
energy and type of settlement area 61
Table 29: Distribution of households by source of
water and type of settlement area 62
Table 30: Distribution of usual water collectors in
households where water was collected from
an off-site source, by type of settlement area 63
Table 31: Respondents who had children under 7 years
living with them or elsewhere and those who
did not, by sex of respondent 67
Table 32: Respondents who had children under 18 years
living with them or elsewhere and those who
did not, by sex of respondent 67
Table 33: Mean minutes per day spent on child care by
whether or not respondent had children under
7 living in the household or living elsewhere
and sex of respondent 68
Table 34: Mean minutes per day spent on child care by
whether or not respondent had children under
18 living in the household or living
elsewhere and sex of respondent 68
Table 35: Total minutes spent in the recorded day on
child care by all respondents, by whether the
activity was mentioned with or without
prompting and sex of respondent 69
Table 36: Child care by prompt, sex of respondent and
type of activity 69
Table 37: Distribution of reporting of child care, by
number of children under 7 living with the
respondent and sex of respondent 70
Table 38: Distribution of reporting of child care, by
number of children under 18 living with the
respondent and sex of respondent 71
Table 39: Mean minutes per day spent by students and
non-students on learning, by sex and age group 72
Table 40: Mean minutes per day spent by teenagers on
learning, play and leisure activities, by sex 73
Table 41: Distribution of minutes per day spent on
learning by teenagers and older people, by
location in which the activity took place 73
Table 42: Mean minutes per day spent on leisure
activities, by age group and sex 75
Table 43: Mean minutes per day spent on leisure
activities, by settlement type and sex 75
Table 44: Mean minutes per day spent on personal care
activities, by age group and sex 77
Table 45: Mean minutes per day spent travelling, by
mode of travel and sex 78
Table 46: Distribution of average minutes spent on
different categories of activity between
travel and non-travel time 79
 List of figures
Figure 1: Mean minutes per day spent on productive and
non-productive activities 36
Figure 2: Mean minutes per day spent in particular
locations by sex 43
Figure 3: Occupation by sex for those engaged in wage
or salaried work 53
Figure 4: Mean minutes per day spent by the employed
aged 20-39 in productive and non-productive
activities, by sex 55
Figure 5: Mean minutes per day spent on housework, by
number of appliances in the household of
respondent and sex of respondent 59
Figure 6: Usual household fuel and water collectors
by sex 63
Figure 7: Usual collectors of water and mean minutes
per day spent on this activity, by distance
from the source and sex 64
Figure 8: Usual collectors of fuel and mean minutes
per day spent on this activity, by distance
from the source and sex 65
 Appendices
Statistical appendix
Mean time by SNA category 88
By population group 88
By sex 89
By age 90
By highest educational level 91
By employment status 92
By settlement type 93
By province 94
Mean time by broad activity category 95
By population group 95
By sex 96
By age group 98
By highest educational level 100
By employment status 102
By settlement type 104
By province 106
By detailed activity code 108

Technical appendix
Sample design 111
Frame and frame procedures 111
Sampling procedure 111
Number of PSUs per province and stratum 112

Activity classification system 115

Please turn this page
 Executive summary
Background
The Beijing Platform for Action which emerged from the 1995
Fourth United Nations World Conference on Women called for the
development of 'suitable statistical means to recognise and make
visible the full extent of the work of women and all their
contributions to the national economy, including their
contribution in the unremunerated and domestic sectors'.

During 2000, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) conducted the

fieldwork for the first national time use study in the country.
The aim of the survey was to provide information on the way in
which different individuals in South Africa spend their time.
Such information contributes to greater understanding of policy-
makers on the economic and social well-being of different
societal groups. In particular, the study was intended to
provide new information on the division of both paid and unpaid
labour between women and men, and greater insight into less well
understood productive activities such as subsistence work,
casual work and work in the informal sector.

Objectives
The survey thus had dual objectives: (1) improvement of
concepts, methodology and measurement of all types of work and
work-related activity, and (2) the feeding of information into
better policy-making, with a particular focus on gender equity.

The survey produced a wealth of data that can be analysed in

many ways. This first report consists of two parts. The body of
the report describes some of the issues that can be explored
with data of this nature. Statistics South Africa hopes that
this will stimulate further exploration from both within and
outside government. Because the survey was the first national
time use study in South Africa and one of the first in the
developing world, the report also discusses methodology and, in
particular, those aspects where Statistics South Africa
introduced innovations. Other developing countries might find
some of these innovations useful. The appendix provides the
standard tabulations that allow for comparison of the South
African results with those achieved in other parts of the world.

1
Methodology
The fieldwork for the study was conducted in three rounds or
tranches - February, June, and October 2000 - so as to catch
possible seasonal variations in time use. The sample covered all
nine provinces and, within each province, four different
settlement types - formal urban, informal urban, commercial
farms, and other rural settlements.

Within each household, two people aged ten years or above were
selected systematically and asked what activities they had
performed on the previous day. The study used a 24-hour diary,
divided into half-hour slots, as the core instrument to record
activities. In each slot, a maximum of three activities could be
recorded. The diary was administered face-to-face to the
respondent by means of an interview.

In addition to the diary, the questionnaire contained many of

the standard questions of Stats SA household surveys. This was
done to facilitate comparison across surveys. Thus one member
per household provided basic information about the household as
a whole, and, before administration of the diary, the respondent
was asked for basic demographic information about themselves,
such as age, sex, children and work situation.

The planned sample for the survey was 10 800 dwelling units,
3 600 per tranche. The realised sample was smaller than planned,
at 8 564 households and 14 553 respondents. The main reasons for
non-realisation of the full sample were unoccupied dwelling
units and dwelling units that were marked on the maps but were
not found on the ground. For those dwelling units that were
contacted, the response rate by selected individuals was 94%.
This is much higher than is achieved in most developed
countries.

For coding the activities recorded in the half-hour slots, the

survey used a trial classification developed by the United
Nations Statistics Division. This United Nations (UN)
classification was developed in response to the perception that
existing classification systems were biased towards a first
world situation. In developing the trial classification, the UN
expert group attempted to develop a more detailed classification
for economic activities and, in particular, for informal
activities. This accorded well with Stats SA's objective of
using the time use study to reach a better understanding of
productive activities.

2
The System of National Accounts and unpaid labour
The international System of National Accounts (SNA), from which
macro-economic descriptors such as the gross domestic product
(GDP) are calculated, takes certain productive activities into
account, but not others.

In virtually all parts of the world, women are more likely to do

the work of rearing and caring for children, caring for other
household members, cooking, cleaning, and fetching water and
fuel. These types of activities can be seen as 'reproductive'
work. Men, meanwhile, are more likely to be producing goods and
services exchanged in the market. Reproductive work produces
something without which the rest of the economy and society
would not exist, namely people. In order to produce these
people, the reproductive workers produce a wide range of goods
and services. Many of these services have their equivalents in
the market economy. For example, one can pay for a domestic
worker to clean, for a cook to prepare meals, for a nursemaid to
look after a child. However, the bulk of these services are
provided on an unpaid basis.

The 1999 South African Budget Review defines GDP as 'a measure
of total national output, income and expenditure in the
economy'. It notes, however, that 'GDP per head … does not take
account of the distribution of income, nor of goods and services
that are produced outside the economy, such as work within the
household' (Department of Finance, 1999). The time use survey
provides data that lay the basis for an elaboration of GDP
through parallel national accounts. This starts to take account
of goods produced 'outside the (paid) economy'.

Classification of activities
As noted, Stats SA used the time use survey to test a new
activity classification system developed by the United Nations
(UN) Statistical Division rather than classification systems
used previously in developed countries. The UN classification is
organised according to ten broad categories, namely:
1 work in establishments, for example working for government,
in a factory or mine;
2 primary production, for example growing maize or other
vegetables on a household plot, or collecting fuel and water;

3
3 work in non-establishments, for example selling fruit and
vegetables at the side of a road, or doing hairdressing at
home;
4 household maintenance, for example cooking and cleaning the
dwelling;
5 care of persons, for example looking after children, the sick
or elderly people in the household;
6 community service, for example attending a political meeting
or helping other households;
7 learning, for example attending school or doing homework;
8 social and cultural, for example socialising with family or
friends;
9 mass media use, for example watching television or listening
to the radio; and
0 personal care, for example sleeping, eating and drinking,
dressing and washing.

An important aspect of the UN classification system is the fact

that these ten categories can be grouped according to how they
are treated in the SNA, and thus in the calculation of GDP.
Activity categories 1-3 fall in the SNA production boundary.
They would thus be included in the national accounts and the GDP
calculation. They are referred to in the report as 'SNA
production'. Activity categories 4-5 fall outside the SNA
production boundary. They are, however, universally recognised
as 'productive' activities and largely correspond to unpaid
work. In the report they are referred to as 'non-SNA
production'. The remaining four activity categories are not
covered at all by the SNA. They fail what is referred to as the
'third person test' in that these activities cannot be performed
for a person by someone else - people cannot hire someone else
to sleep, learn, or eat for them. They thus cannot become part
of the market economy. In this report they are referred to as
'non-productive activities'.

Some key findings

The most basic disaggregation, by sex and SNA-related category,
shows that, on average, men aged 10 years and above spent 81% of
their day and women spent an almost equally large part (77%) of
their day on non-productive activities. There is, however, a
more significant difference between how women and men spent the
rest of their time. Men, on average, spent 13% of their time on
SNA production activities and 6% of their time on non-SNA
production. Women, on the other hand, spent on average 8% of
their time on SNA production activities and 15% on non-SNA
4
production. Women thus spent, on average, a larger proportion of
their day (23%) on productive activities than men (19%).
However, women were likely to be paid for less of the time they
spent on productive activities per day than men.

Further disaggregation shows that, within each age group, the

pattern persists in that men, on average, spent a larger
proportion of their day than women on SNA production activities
while women spent longer on non-SNA production. The gender
differences were least stark for the relatively small group of
people aged 60 years and above. In all age groups, women, on
average, spent less time on non-productive activities than men.

The gender difference remains even when analysis is restricted

to people who are employed. Thus employed women spent almost
three times as many minutes per day (210 minutes), on average,
than men (82 minutes), on non-SNA production, i.e. unpaid work.

In households where a domestic worker bore the chief

responsibility for housework, the average amount of time per day
spent by both women and men on these tasks decreased. There was,
however, a greater decrease in the average man's workload than
that of the average women. Women in households where a domestic
worker did most of the housework spent an average of 148 minutes
per day on housework, while men spent an average of only 47
minutes per day. Women in households where a domestic worker did
not bear the main responsibility spent an average of 183 minutes
per day, while men spent an average of 75 minutes.

Child care represents another important form of unpaid work. The

time use survey distinguished between respondents with no
children under seven years of age, those with children under
seven years of age, but who were not living with them, and those
with children of this age living in the household. The results
revealed that the average minutes per day spent by both women
and men on child care tends to increase when they have children
under seven years, and to increase even more when the children
live with them. Women in each category spent more minutes per
day than men on child care. Thus women with children living with
them spent an average of 87 minutes per day on child care,
compared to an average of seven minutes for men in this position
and 12 minutes per day for women with no children of this age.

The time use survey provided further information on another form

of unpaid work which is common in South Africa and other
developing countries, namely fetching water and fuel for
household use. Officially, these should be classified as SNA

5
production. However, most of the activity is performed for no
pay.

The time use survey confirmed the significant differences

between different types of settlement areas in respect of access
to water in the dwelling or on site. In particular, the majority
of households in ex-homeland areas rely on water that they must
collect from off the site. The survey reveals that for those
households which collected water, irrespective of the distance
from the source, women and girls were more likely than men and
boys to be responsible for collecting water. It further revealed
that, while those with water within 100 metres of the dwelling
spent an average of 44 minutes per day collecting water, those
with water at a distance of a kilometre or more spent an average
of 71 minutes per day. The patterns in respect of fuel were
similar, except that the time spent was longer – an average of
78 minutes per day for those with fuel within 100 metres of the
dwelling, and 128 minutes per day for those where fuel was
collected from a kilometre or further away.

As noted, the time use survey was interested in capturing both

unpaid work and forms of paid work that can be overlooked in
regular surveys. Over the last few years Stats SA has improved
its capturing of informal and 'non-standard' work. This has been
done most recently through the reframing of work questions in
the labour force survey. Nevertheless, even the new approaches
do not succeed in capturing all the targeted work activities, as
the instruments contend with the strong perceptions and
assumptions of both interviewers and respondents as to what
constitutes 'economic work'.

The time use study is a complementary way of approaching the

issue of economic work. The questionnaire for the time use
survey included both the usual detailed prompts of the labour
force survey as to whether the respondent performed different
types of economic activity over the previous seven days, and the
diary about all activities over the last 24 hours. Comparison of
the responses suggests that the standard employment status
questions may not be picking up all economic activities. Thus
18% of all respondents who reported some SNA productive
activities in the previous 24 hours said they had not done any
'work' in the past seven days. This merits further
investigation.

6
Conclusion
Stats SA's relatively small and stand-alone time use survey
proved that such a survey is feasible in a developing country
with relatively high rates of illiteracy. Stats SA introduced a
number of innovations in its methodology of time use to cater
for the nature of the country and its population. Other
developing countries might find some of these innovations
useful. The report which follows reveals only a small fraction
of the type of analysis that is possible with the available
data. Stats SA hoped that other analysts will be inspired to use
the data and uncover more of the richness of what it can tell
us.

7
Please turn this page
 Definitions and concepts
Actor
An actor is a respondent who performed a particular activity
during the 24 hours covered by the diary.

Employment status
Employed people included all those who said they had engaged in
at least one economic activity over the previous seven days. The
specific economic activities which were prompted for were:
• running any kind of business, big or small, for themselves;
• helping unpaid in a family business;
• doing any work on a household plot, food garden, or kraal;
• catching any fish or wild animals for food or sale;
• doing domestic work for another household for payment in cash or
in kind; and
• doing any other work for wage, salary, piecework pay, commission
or payment in kind.
These are the same prompts that are used in the six-monthly
labour force survey of Stats SA piloted for the first time in
February 2000. Those people who said they had not done these
activities in the previous seven days, but had such an economic
activity to which they would definitely return, were also
classified as employed.

Unemployed people were all those who had not worked, but who
wanted to do so, would be able to start work within a week, and
had taken action to look for work within the past four weeks.
This is the official definition of unemployment used by Stats SA
in other publications. All other respondents were classified as
not economically active.

Episodes
As expected, for every person there were instances where the
same activity was reported for a number of consecutive half-hour
time slots. In particular, sleeping would be repeated across a
large number of time slots. The concept of 'episodes' was
introduced to capture this phenomenon. An episode is defined as
a set of consecutive time slots during which the activity and
the location of that activity do not change. So, for example, if
a person reports sleeping at home and inside for 14 consecutive
time slots, this yields a sleeping episode of seven hours, or

9
420 minutes. The number of episodes reported is an indication of
the quality of the survey.

Population group
The time use survey asked all respondents how they would
classify themselves under the apartheid-era population group
categories of African, coloured, Indian and white. Respondents
self-classified themselves. The fieldworker manual explained
that this question was necessary in order to investigate what
impact the former political system was having on the lives of
respondents in 2000.

Reproductive work
Reproductive work includes activities such as rearing and caring
for children; caring for the elderly, ill, disabled and other
household members; caring unpaid for non-family members; and
cooking, cleaning, and fetching water and fuel. These activities
constitute production, but are not included in the calculation
of gross domestic product.

Settlement area (stratum)

For the purpose of sampling, the enumeration areas of South
Africa are divided into four strata or types of settlement area.
Settlement areas are classified according to the predominant
type of settlement in a given enumeration area. The four types
used in the time use survey were:
• formal urban settlement, which includes areas with formal
houses, flats and other dwellings;
• informal urban settlement, which includes areas such as
'squatter' settlements;
• commercial farming areas, which are rural areas in which
commercial landholdings predominate;
• other rural areas, which largely correspond to previous
'homelands', and are referred to in this report as 'ex-
homeland' areas.

10
System of National Accounts (SNA)
The System of National Accounts 1993 (SNA93) is the basis of
'national accounts'. National accounts, in turn, are the basis
for calculations of gross domestic product (GDP). Growth in GDP
is used as the main indicator of how well or how poorly an
economy is performing.

As most statistical data eventually finds its way into national

accounts, it is important to have an internationally agreed set
of standards that govern the compilation of macro-economic
aggregates. SNA93 was developed by international agencies such
as the United Nations, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation
and Development (OECD) and the International Monetary Fund to
ensure that statistics are comparable and internationally
consistent. SNA93 provides a comprehensive framework of accounts
with common definitions and concepts to describe the economy of
a country.

The SNA93 is designed to be flexible enough to be used by

countries at different stages of statistical development. It
also makes provision for the investigation of concepts not
specifically highlighted in SNA93 through the concept of
satellite accounts. Two of the best-known areas for satellite
accounts are tourism and unpaid labour. Satellite accounts allow
for:
• the provision of additional information on particular social
concerns;
• the use of alternative concepts;
• extended coverage of costs and benefits of human activities;
• further analysis of data by means of relevant indicators and
aggregates; and
• the linking of physical data sources and analysis to the monetary
accounting system.

11
Please turn this page
1Background and methodology
Background
During the year 2000, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA)
conducted the fieldwork for the first national time use study in
the country. The objectives of the survey, which was conducted
with financial assistance from the Norwegian Agency for
Development Cooperation (Norad) and technical assistance from
Statistics Norway, are as follows:

The time use study will measure and analyse the time
spent from day-to-day by different individuals - women
and men, girls and boys, rural and urban, rich and poor
- on all major activities. The study will provide
greater understanding to policy-makers on the economic
and social well-being of different groups. It will
provide new information on the division of both paid
and unpaid labour between women and men and other
groupings. It will provide greater insight into
reproductive and leisure activities of household
members, as well as into less well understood
productive activities such as subsistence work, casual
work and work in the informal sector.

The survey thus had dual objectives - improvement of concepts,

methodology and measurement of all types of work and activity,
and the feeding of information into better policy-making, with a
particular focus on gender equity.

This is the first report on the findings of the time use survey.
The exercise has produced a wealth of data that can be analysed
in many ways. The statistical appendix at the back of this
publication provides the standard tabulations that characterise
time use reports in most parts of the world. The body of the
report highlights some of the ways in which data of this nature
can be explored. We hope that we and others will have the
opportunity to explore the data in much more detail in the
coming months and years.

Design of the survey

Questionnaire

The questionnaire for the time use survey comprised three

sections. Section one covered details of the household. Section
two covered demographic details of the first person selected as
a respondent in that household. Section three consisted of a
13
diary in which to record the activities performed by the first
person selected during the 24 hours between 4 am on the day
preceding the interview and 4 am on the day of the interview.
Sections four and five were for the second selected person in
the household but were otherwise identical to sections two and
three respectively.

The household and demographic sections of the questionnaire

contained many of the standard questions of Stats SA household
surveys. This was done so as to facilitate comparison across
surveys. These sections also contained some additional questions
on issues that would be likely to affect time use. For the
household section, for example, there were questions on access
to household aids such as washing machines and vacuum cleaners.
In the demographic section there were questions about the
presence of the respondent's young children in the household.

The diary, which forms the core instrument of a time use study,
was divided into half-hour slots. Respondents were asked an
open-ended question as to the activities performed during a
given half-hour. These activities were then post-coded by the
fieldworker according to the activity classification system (see
below).

The respondent could report up to three activities for each time

slot. Where there was more than one activity reported for a half
hour, the respondent was asked whether these activities were
conducted simultaneously, or one after the other.

For each recorded activity, the questionnaire also included two

location codes. The first code provides for eight broadly-
defined locations plus the mobile activity of travel. Where the
location of a particular activity could be classified as more
than one of the given options, the option highest on the list
took precedence. For example, a domestic worker was classified
as working in someone else's dwelling rather than in a
workplace. The second code distinguished between interior
(inside) and exterior (outside) for the eight broadly-defined
locations, and distinguished the mode of travel for all travel
activity.

Sampling

The sample for the time use survey was chosen so as to be

representative of the country's population. Each round or
tranche included households from all nine provinces and from

14
four different strata, or types of settlement area. The strata
were formal urban settlements, informal urban settlements,
commercial farming areas, and other rural areas. We refer to the
latter in this report as ex-homeland areas.

The time use survey used a sampling frame that had been prepared
for the survey of activities of young people that was conducted
in 1999. In the latter survey, it was decided to sample
different strata disproportionately as the incidence of working
children was expected to differ across strata. For the time use
survey, the stratum variable was used in weighting both
households and individual respondents so as to ensure that the
reported figures more accurately reflected the population and
its activities.

The planned sample for the survey was 10 800 dwelling units,
3 600 per tranche. Each dwelling unit could contain more than
one household, although this is unusual. The sampling approach
is discussed in more detail in the technical appendix. The
realised sample was smaller than planned, at 8 564 households
and 14 553 respondents. The main reasons for non-realisation of
the full sample were unoccupied dwelling units and dwelling
units which were marked on the maps but not found on the ground.
Some of the discrepancies, particularly in informal areas, were
due to changes on the ground between mapping of the areas and
enumeration. The number of refusals was very small.

The survey aimed to collect information from two respondents

aged 10 years and above from each selected household. Where the
household contained only one person in this age group, only that
person was interviewed. The interviewer first listed all
household members from oldest to youngest. The respondents to be
interviewed were chosen systematically through the use of a
selection grid included in the interviewer's manual.

Overall, the survey recorded diaries from 73% of the respondents

from whom it might have been possible to collect diaries, if
each of the unreached households had contained at least two
eligible individuals. If only those households with which
contact was made are included, the survey captured diaries from
94% of targeted respondents. This response rate is much higher
than is achieved in most developed countries.

15
Pilot

A pilot was conducted during November 1999 to test both the

questionnaire and the logistics. The pilot was conducted in the
North West province and included households from all four
settlement types. A number of changes were made as a result of
the pilot. One of the more important changes was the decision to
collect only one 24-hour diary for each respondent rather than
the two originally planned. To compensate for the fewer diaries,
the planned sample size was increased.

Fieldwork

The fieldwork for the study was conducted in three tranches -

February, June, and October 2000 - so as to catch possible
seasonal variations in time use. The unforeseen heavy floods of
February 2000 caused some difficulties in fieldwork,
particularly in Mpumalanga and the Northern Province. This could
also have affected the way some respondents spent their time
during that period. October fieldwork in several enumeration
areas of KwaZulu-Natal was affected by the outbreak of foot and
mouth disease, but this probably had less impact on the way most
respondents spent their time. The survey took place before the
outbreak of the cholera epidemic in the province.

The questionnaire was administered face-to-face to the

respondent through an interview rather than asking them to fill
it in themselves as is done in most European countries. This
methodology was necessary because of the high levels of
illiteracy in the country. For example, the census of 1996 found
that a full 20% of all South Africans aged 20 or more had not
received any formal education. To promote comparability, the
diary was administered even where the person was literate and
numerate. Questionnaires were also administered in the language
chosen by the respondent.

Over 100 temporary fieldworkers were employed for each tranche

of the survey. Where possible, the same fieldworkers were
employed in later tranches. Fieldworkers worked in teams of
three or four, with one person in each team serving as a
supervisor. Each provincial office of Stats SA allocated one of
their full-time staff to serve as a coordinator for the duration
of the survey.

16
Training

The training for the first tranche of the survey took place in
Stats SA's head office in Pretoria over a week. The training was
done at a central venue because this was the first time that
Stats SA was conducting such a survey, and there was not
sufficient expertise to allow for a decentralised approach. For
the second and third tranches, the first two days of training
took place at head office, and a further two days in each of the
provinces. The first two days catered, on the one hand, for new
fieldworkers and, on the other, as a refresher course for
provincial coordinators. The two days in the province were
facilitated by the provincial coordinators, using a centrally
designed programme and materials. Both new and experienced
fieldworkers attended the provincial training.

For the training in the first tranche, participants were divided

according to provinces and thus also more or less according to
language. One of the important sessions in the training involved
participants discussing the correct translation into a local
language for every question in the questionnaire. This exercise
resulted in a set of standard translations for each
questionnaire. These were given to fieldworkers to take into the
field. The discussion also ensured that all fieldworkers
understood every question in the same way.

Data processing

The data from the diary were captured in Sybase at Stats SA head
office through a custom-designed data capture programme. The
programme contained some in-built checks. Further checks were
done manually prior to and after capture. The data were
subsequently downloaded into SAS format, and the SAS programme
was used for analysis.

Weighting

The raw data were weighted so as to adjust the responses

collected to be representative of the underlying sample frame.
Because the sample frame itself was designed so as to reflect
the population of South Africa aged 10 years and above, the
results reported should reflect the proportions in the total
population of this age in terms of sex, population group, age
group and settlement type. The weighting is discussed in more
detail in the technical appendix.

17
Because of the relatively small size of the sample, the results
were weighted to reflect the 25 000 odd individuals aged 10
years and above whom one would have expected to find in 10 800
dwelling units rather than the number of people of this age in
the full population. This approach was adopted to remind users
and readers that the survey is smaller than the usual Stats SA
survey and thus slightly less reliable in terms of
extrapolation. The proportions should, nevertheless, reflect the
full population.

The activity coding system

Stats SA was fortunate in terms of coding to be part of the

testing of the United Nations (UN) trial classification. This
classification was developed as a response to the perception
that existing classification systems were biased towards a first
world situation. This bias was understandable given that few
large-scale time use surveys had been conducted in third world
countries until recent years. It meant, however, that the coding
system was not well-suited to reflect the situation in third
world countries and would thus not be ideal for policy-making
purposes.

In developing the trial classification, a UN expert group

attempted to develop a more detailed classification for economic
activities and, in particular, for informal activities. This
accorded well with Stats SA's objective of using the time use
study to reach a better understanding of productive activities.
Most existing systems treated paid economic activity as a 'black
box', in that most of the time spent by people from the time
they arrived at the workplace to the time they left was given a
single code. The full activity coding system used by Stats SA is
included as an appendix to this report.

The trial classification still does not distinguish much between

individual activities at work. It does, however, distinguish
between work for establishments, primary productive activities
not for establishments, and other productive activities not for
establishments. In broad terms, the three-way categorisation
distinguishes between the formal sector, largely subsistence
primary activities, and other informal sector work. So, for
example, working in a factory or for government would be
classified as work for establishments, subsistence farming on a
household plot would be primary productive activities not for
establishments, and selling fruit and vegetables at the side of

18
the road would be other productive activities not for
establishments.

One important exception to this in the way Stats SA used the

trial classification is that work performed by domestic workers,
who are usually considered as part of the informal sector, was
included under work for establishments. This was done because
private households that employ domestic workers are classified
as establishments in the national accounts.

Stats SA also elaborated on the UN system by providing some

disaggregation of formal sector work. This was done by
distinguishing different establishment work activities according
to work status, for example between whether the person was an
employer or self-employed.

A second important aspect of the UN classification system is the

fact that it matches the System of National Accounts (SNA),
which forms the basis internationally for calculation of gross
domestic product (GDP). The classification is organised
according to ten broad activity categories, which are listed,
with examples, below. These categories can be distinguished by
the left-most digit of the full three-digit activity code.

The ten broad categories are as follows:

SNA production
1 Work in establishments includes activities such as waged
employment, domestic work, and looking for work.
2 Primary production not for establishments includes activities
such as subsistence farming, and collecting fuel and water.
3 Other production of goods and services not for establishments
includes activities such as home-based production, informal
street trading, and informal provision of services such as
hairdressing.

Non-SNA production
4 Household maintenance includes activities such as housework
and personal and household shopping.
5 Care of persons in the household includes looking after
children, the sick, elderly and disabled members of the
household.
6 Community service to non-household members includes
activities such as caring for non-household members, cooking
for collective occasions, and volunteering with an
organisation.

19
Non-productive
7 Learning includes activities such as attendance at school,
doing homework, and attending work-related and non-formal
courses.
8 Social and cultural includes activities such as socialising,
participating in cultural and religious activities,
participating in and observing sports.
9 Mass media use includes activities such as watching
television, listening to the radio and visiting the library.
0 Personal care includes activities such as sleeping, eating
and drinking, washing and dressing oneself, and receiving
medical and personal care.

Activity categories 1-3, which are the three 'work' divisions

referred to above, fall in the SNA production boundary. They
would thus be 'counted' in national accounts and the GDP. The
only exceptions are the codes for looking for work, and time
spent on travelling related to SNA type activity. Collecting
fuel and water are included under primary production not for
establishments as these activities are officially part of SNA -
although probably not included in most countries. However, it
would usually make more sense policy-wise if collecting fuel and
water was classified together with other unpaid household work.
The sections below on economic and household work contain some
adjusted information in respect of these exceptions.

Activity categories 4-5, which cover unpaid household work and

assistance to other households, fall outside the SNA production
boundary, although they are recognised as 'productive'. They
largely correspond to unpaid labour. In this report they are
referred to as non-SNA production. The remaining activity
categories are not covered at all by the SNA. They fail what is
referred to as the 'third person test' in that they cannot be
performed for a person by someone else - people cannot hire
someone else to sleep, learn, or eat for them. They thus cannot
become part of the market economy. In this report they are
referred to as non-productive activities.

Much of the discussion and many of the tables in the report are
organised according to either the ten categories, or the three
SNA-related groupings of these categories. The appendix contains
the standard tabulations available in most national time use
studies. It includes a listing, at the three-digit level, of the
number of women and men who reported performing each of the
three-digit activities as well as the mean time spent by them on
that activity. The appendix also contains detailed cross-
tabulations of activity and SNA categories by a range of key

20
demographic variables. For each demographic disaggregation,
there are three one-digit tables and three SNA tables, as
follows:
• The first table presents the number of respondents in each
demographic subcategory who reported performing an activity
in that category.
• The second table presents the average time spent on each
category of activity by those respondents who engaged in the
activity.
• The third table presents the average time spent on each
category of activity for all people in that demographic
subcategory, whether they performed the activity or not.

Special activities – child care

In designing the time use survey, Stats SA was concerned that

the survey would under-report some activities, as has happened
in surveys in other countries. The literature suggests that
child care, in particular, is either often not mentioned or,
alternatively, listed as a secondary activity when simultaneous
activities are provided for. The Stats SA survey thus paid
special attention to capturing child care work.

Firstly, the demographic questionnaire that preceded the diary

included questions that asked whether the respondent had any
children under seven years of age, and – if so – whether the
children lived with them. The same two questions were also asked
in respect of children under 18 years. Secondly, after the diary
was completed, there was an extra question which interviewers
used to prompt all respondents as to whether they did any child
care which they had not mentioned. To keep a check on the
success or otherwise of this approach, there were two slightly
different codes for each of the child care activities. A '1' as
the third digit indicated that the activity was named
spontaneously. A '2' indicated that the activity was only
mentioned after prompting.

Special activities – waiting

During early discussions around the time use survey, advisors

repeatedly mentioned the importance of capturing the time that
South Africans spend in waiting, whether for transport,
government services, or something else. Stats SA attempted to
capture this waiting element by modifying the classification
system so as to add an '8' as the third digit of the code of the

21
activity being waited for. In doing so, Stats SA was aware that
it would not capture more than a fraction of all waiting, as
many informants would see the waiting time as part of the
activity for which they were waiting. The exercise nevertheless
seemed worthwhile in order to record how often informants - and
which informants - specifically mentioned waiting.

Simultaneous activities

Time is a resource. Policy makers concerned about poverty might

thus want to extend their concept of resources to include time,
and thus consider 'time poverty' as well as 'money poverty'.
Time is different from money in that every person, rich or poor,
has the same number of hours and minutes in a given day.
Nevertheless, the presence or absence of money and other
resources will influence how they utilise this fixed resource.

In addition, each person has only 24 hours in any day, but some
people use those 24 hours more intensively than others. In
particular, it has been found in other countries that women,
more often than men, tend to engage in simultaneous activities.
By combining activities, people can perform more activities in a
given time and so avoid a time deficit. But performing
simultaneous activities is not without costs.

Robert Pollak distinguishes between two types of simultaneous

activities. The first type – he gives examples such as walking
and chewing gum, or driving a car and listening to the radio –
he calls parallel activities. The second type – which usually
involve bearing responsibility for the care of another person at
the same time as doing something else – he calls on-call
activities. Pollak notes that a person doing one of these on-
call activities can do something else at the same time 'but the
range of activities that are compatible with being on call is
constrained in terms of location and is limited to activities
that must be interrupted' (1999:8). These activities thus limit
what the (usually women) actors who perform them can do with
their lives.

One difference between the Stats SA instrument and that of many

other countries is that the former does not distinguish between
primary, secondary and tertiary activities. Where other
countries allow for multiple activities in a given period, they
generally ask the respondent to prioritise them. One problem
with this approach is that analysis has shown systematic bias in
what is prioritised. Child care, for example, is usually given

22
lower priority than other simultaneous activities. A second
problem with the approach is that analysts often disregard all
but the primary activity.

Given these difficulties, Stats SA allowed for three activities

per half hour, but gave each of those activities equal
importance. In allowing for multiple activities, Stats SA
catered for both sequential activities - those done one after
the other within the period, and simultaneous activities - those
done at the same time. In order to obtain a fuller understanding
of simultaneous activities, Stats SA used two different methods
of assigning minutes to activities. When there was only one
activity in a half hour, it was obvious that 30 minutes should
be assigned to that activity. When there were two or three
activities in a half hour which were performed sequentially, one
after the other, it was also simple - each activity was assigned
10 or 15 minutes. However, when two or more activities were
performed simultaneously, it was more complicated. If, for
example, two activities were performed simultaneously in a
particular half hour, should one assign 30 minutes or 15 minutes
each?

The advantage of assigning 15 minutes is that the total minutes

per person per day then sum to 24 hours. This is the approach
used for the bulk of the analysis and tables in this report. It
is also the approach which makes the Stats SA results more
easily comparable with results from other countries and other
studies. One disadvantage of this approach is that it can give
the impression of less time being spent on an activity than is
the reality. For example, if a person spends eight hours at
work, during which the person also listens to the radio, the
approach will record only four hours of work and four hours of
listening to the radio. This is not how most people would
intuitively understand the situation.

The advantage of assigning 30 minutes to each of the two

activities is that it shows the truer duration of a particular
activity - the full time it spanned. This second approach is
used where we look specifically at common simultaneous
activities rather than the full day.

The difference between the two approaches is illustrated by the

example of someone who reports that in a given half-hour they
ate, watched television and socialised with friends, and that
they performed all three activities simultaneously. The first
approach allocates 10 minutes to each of the three activities.
The second approach allocates 30 minutes to each.

23
Please turn this page
2Description of respondents
General characteristics
Table 1 shows both the weighted and unweighted distribution of
enumerated households by type of settlement area.

Table 1: Distribution of enumerated households by type of

settlement area

Unweighted Weighted
Settlement area Number Per cent Number Per cent
Formal urban 3 504 41 4 385 50
Informal urban 2 020 24 905 10
Ex-homeland 1 468 17 2 826 33
Commercial farming 1 571 18 575 7
Total 8 563 100 8 692 100

The fact that informal urban areas constitute 24% of unweighted

households compared to 10% of weighted, while commercial farming
areas constitute 18% of unweighted and 7% of weighted show that
these two types of settlement areas were over-sampled, and had
to be adjusted downwards with the weights. With the weights
added, formal urban households account for half of all
households, ex-homeland areas for another third, and the other
two strata for ten per cent or less each.

As noted above, two respondents aged 10 years and above were

randomly selected from each household, or one person where there
was only one person in this age group. Tables 2 and 3 give the
weighted and unweighted distribution of the respondents by sex
and a range of other background characteristics that are used
repeatedly in later tabulations in this report. A total of
14 306 individuals were interviewed and had a diary completed in
respect of the previous day. Their responses were weighted up to
represent the 25 699 individuals who would have been interviewed
had all individuals in the relevant age group in all the
households in the sample been included. (In some of the later
tables the total is slightly different from the total figures
given here due to missing data.)

25
Table 2: Distribution (unweighted) of respondents by background
characteristics and sex

Male Female Total

Category Number % Number % Number %
Population group African 5 079 77 5 839 76 10 918 76
Coloured 659 10 885 12 1 544 11
Indian 170 3 185 2 355 2
White 695 11 770 10 1 465 10
Other 13 0 11 0 24 0
Settlement area Urban formal 2 669 40 3 168 41 5 837 41
Urban informal 1 543 23 1 788 23 3 331 23
Ex-homeland 1 081 16 1 514 20 2 595 18
Commercial farming 1 323 20 1 220 16 2 543 18
Province Western Cape 787 12 898 12 1 685 12
Eastern Cape 763 12 1 020 13 1 783 12
Northern Cape 449 7 543 7 992 7
Free State 720 11 788 10 1 508 11
KwaZulu-Natal 1 055 16 1 229 16 2 284 16
North West 559 8 623 8 1 182 8
Gauteng 932 14 1 009 13 1 941 14
Mpumalanga 673 10 747 10 1 420 10
Northern Province 678 10 833 11 1 511 11
Age group 10-19 years 1 704 26 1 869 24 3 573 26
20-39 years 2 809 42 3 271 43 6 080 42
40-59 years 1 549 23 1 730 23 3 279 22
60 years and above 548 8 818 11 1 366 10
Employment status Employed 3 778 51 3 148 41 6 926 48
Unemployed 520 8 607 8 1 127 8
Not economically active 2 318 35 3 935 51 6 253 44
Total 6 616 100 7 690 100 14 306 100

Note: In this and following tables, non-responses are ignored in calculating

percentages unless otherwise indicated, and unless they are a significant
category.

Examining unweighted table 2, of the 14 306 people interviewed,

7 690 (54%) were women and 6 616 (46%) were men. (The terms
'men' and 'women' as used in this report include the younger
people aged 10-19 years who might elsewhere be referred to as
'boys' and 'girls'.) The sample consisted mostly of Africans
(76%), which is in line with the demographics of the country. It
further consisted mostly of individuals in the peak productive
and reproductive years. All of these patterns persist in the
weighted data, where women account for 53% of respondents,
African people again for 76% and respondents between the ages of
20 and 39 for 40%.
26
Table 3: Distribution (weighted) of respondents by background
characteristics and sex

Male Female Total

Category Number % Number % Number %
Population group African 9 112 76 10 422 76 19 533 76
Coloured 1 025 9 1 305 10 2 330 9
Indian 371 3 402 3 773 3
White 1 500 12 1 526 11 3 028 12
Other 18 0 18 0 36 0
Settlement area Urban formal 5 946 49 6 561 48 12 507 49
Urban informal 1 112 9 1 188 9 2 300 9
Ex-homeland 4 162 35 5 167 38 9 329 36
Commercial farming 805 7 757 6 1 563 6
Province Western Cape 1 180 10 1 421 10 2 600 10
Eastern Cape 1 714 14 2 119 15 3 833 15
Northern Cape 249 2 286 2 535 2
Free State 819 7 892 7 1 711 7
KwaZulu-Natal 2 434 20 2 887 21 5 321 21
North West 1 053 9 1 111 8 2 164 8
Gauteng 2 417 20 2 428 18 4 844 19
Mpumalanga 802 7 918 7 1 720 7
Northern Province 1 359 11 1 612 12 2 971 12
Age group 10-19 4 208 35 4 131 30 8 339 32
20-39 4 693 39 5 500 40 10 193 40
40-59 2 146 18 2 652 19 4 798 19
60+ 972 8 1 389 10 2 362 9
Employment status Employed 6 029 50 5 095 37 11 124 43
Unemployed 827 7 1 046 8 1 873 7
Not economically active 5 170 43 7 532 55 12 702 49
Total 12 026 100 13 673 100 25 699 100

Women outnumbered men in all settlement areas except commercial

farming. Again, this pattern persists in the weighted data. All
further tables in this report reflect weighted data unless
stated otherwise. All further tables also exclude unspecified
values for the variables concerned when calculating percentages
unless the unspecified category is significant.

27
The work situation of the respondents
All respondents were classified as either employed, unemployed,
or not economically active according to standard labour force
definitions (see page 9), on the basis of their responses to the
demographic questions. Overall, close on half (48%, or 50%
weighted) of the respondents were employed, of whom a slightly
larger number were men than women. Over two-fifths (43% weighted
and unweighted) of the respondents were economically inactive.
Of the economically inactive, 63% were women when using
unweighted data, and 59% when using weighted data.

Each respondent, whether employed or not, was asked about both

their personal main source of income or support to meet their
daily needs, and the usual total monthly personal income from
all sources. Table 4 tabulates the results for all those who
reported non-zero income. The table provides information
separately for those who reported they were employed and those
who were not employed i.e. unemployed or not economically
active. The income categories used in the table divide the
remaining respondents into three more or less equal categories.

Table 4: Percentage distribution of respondents by monthly

income category and source of income

Employed Unemployed and not economically

active
Source of income R1-R500 R501-R 1000 R1 001+ Total R1-R500 R501-R1 000 R1 001+ Total
% % % % % % % %
Wage/salary 48 67 88 69 3 4 23 5
Earnings from own business 22 11 10 14 1 0 1 1
State grant 2 14 0 4 7 71 16 24
Private pension 0 1 1 1 1 3 19 3
Unemployment insurance fund 0 0 0 0 1 1 3 1
Investment 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 1
Money from other household members 20 3 1 8 61 11 24 45
Remittances from outside 5 3 0 3 23 7 6 17
Private maintenance 1 0 0 0 2 1 1 2
Others 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 1
No personal income 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0
Total 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100

The table shows clearly how employment status affects the source
of income. Thus, while 69% of employed people said their main
source of income was a wage or salary, this was true for only 5%
of people who were not employed. For those not employed, the
28
main source of income was more likely to be money from other
household members (45%) or a state grant (24%). These sources
were the main source of income for 8% and 4% respectively of
employed people.

Among the employed, wages and salary were the main source of
income whatever the level of income. The proportion with
earnings from own business was highest (22%) for those earning
R500 or less per month. Those with low income were also more
likely than others to report that money from other household
members was their main source.

Among those who were not employed, remittances were reported

most often (23%) among those with monthly incomes of R500 or
less. Private pensions were most prevalent (19%) for those in
the highest income bracket of R1 001 or more per month.

Table 5 shows that, overall, about a third of respondents

reported no income while about one-fifth reported incomes of
R1 001 or more. However, the proportion of white men reporting
no income was as low as 12% while over two-thirds (68%) of white
men were in the highest income group. At the other end of the
population group–sex hierarchy, 35% of African women reported no
income while only 7% said they had an income of R1 001 or more.

Table 5: Percentage distribution of personal income by

population group and sex

Population group Sex None R1-R500 R501-R1 000 R1 001+ Total

African Male % 36 35 14 14 100
Female % 35 42 16 7 100
Total % 36 38 15 11 100
Coloured Male % 33 13 17 36 100
Female % 35 20 19 27 100
Total % 34 17 18 31 100
Indian Male % 21 15 12 51 100
Female % 36 17 12 34 100
Total % 29 16 12 42 100
White Male % 12 12 8 68 100
Female % 21 14 11 54 100
Total % 17 13 9 61 100
Total Male % 33 30 14 24 100
Female % 34 36 15 15 100
Total % 33 33 15 19 100

29
Both the employed and those who had worked previously were asked
about their current or most recent occupation and industry.
Given the relatively small numbers, occupations are grouped here
into four broad categories rather than the ten usually reported:
• Managers & professionals includes these two groups as well as
technicians and associate professionals.
• Clerical, sales and service covers these categories of pink-
collar occupations.
• Skilled and semi-skilled production includes skilled
agricultural workers and craft workers.
• Elementary includes those without formal skills.

Table 6 reveals that over half of all respondents with

occupations recorded fell into the managerial or skilled and
semi-skilled categories, while a further 28% had elementary
occupations. The percentage of women with elementary occupations
was more than double that of men. Close on half (46%) of all men
were in skilled and semi-skilled production occupations, while
women were more likely (28%) to be in clerical, sales and
services jobs.

Table 6: Percentage distribution of respondents by occupation

and sex

Occupation Male % Female % Total %

Managers, professionals 18 17 18
Clerical, sales and services 18 28 23
Skilled & semi-skilled production 46 16 32
Elementary 18 38 28
Total 100 100 100

Table 7 further disaggregates the situation by work status. The

work status categorisation distinguishes between those working
for private households (mainly domestic workers), other
employees, and those who were self-employed in family-only or
bigger enterprises.

30
Table 7: Percentage distribution of respondents by occupation
and work status

Private Other Family-only Bigger Total

household employee business enterprise
Managers & professionals Male % 0 79 10 12 100
Female % 0 83 8 9 100
Clerical, sales & services Male % 1 85 12 3 100
Female % 2 74 21 4 100
Skilled & semi-skilled production Male % 7 56 28 9 100
Female % 6 34 55 5 100
Elementary Male % 2 71 23 5 100
Female % 31 40 23 6 100

The table shows that for all occupational categories except

women skilled and semi-skilled production workers, most people
were working as employees. Among the women skilled and semi-
skilled production workers, over half were working in a family-
only business. The table also shows that, of managers and
professionals, men were slightly more likely than women to be
self-employed. The women elementary workers were the only group
where a large proportion – almost a third – were working in
private households.

31
Please turn this page
3Main findings
Days of the week
For many individuals, activities are likely to differ
significantly between days of the week, often according to a
regular pattern. In particular, activities on Saturdays and
Sundays are likely to be different from those on weekdays for
people who are studying and for those in formal employment. Time
use studies in developed countries often specify on which day a
particular individual or household will be interviewed so as to
get the required distribution across the days of the week. In
the South African study, because of the other logistical
difficulties in contacting respondents, this was not attempted.
Instead, fieldworkers were asked to help ensure a more or less
even spread of different days by taking their weekly rest on
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday. This strategy was based
on evidence from time use studies in other countries that Monday
to Thursday are very similar in terms of activities, while the
weekend and Fridays are more diverse.

Table 8 shows that the strategy was not completely successful in

achieving the required spread. In particular, fewer diaries were
collected for Saturday than for any other day of the week.

Table 8: Distribution of diary days (unweighted)

Day of the week Diaries %

Monday 2 527 18
Tuesday 2 402 17
Wednesday 1 987 14
Thursday 1 628 11
Friday 1 787 12
Saturday 1 496 10
Sunday 2 388 17
Unspecified 91 1
Total 14 306 100

Episodes
As noted previously, the concept of 'episodes' was used to
capture the phenomenon whereby a person recorded the same
activity for a number of consecutive slots. The number of
episodes reported provides one indication of the quality of the
survey. Overall, respondents recorded an average of 20,4
episodes per 24-hour day unweighted, and 20,2 weighted. We were
interested in whether people who were more time-conscious were

33
more likely to report a greater number of episodes than others.
Having a watch was taken as a proxy for time-consciousness.
Table 9 below shows the mean number of episodes reported for
people with and without watches in each of the strata.

Table 9: Mean number of episodes by ownership of a watch and

type of settlement area (weighted figures in brackets)

Settlement area Has watch Does not have watch

Respondents % Episodes Respondents % Episodes
Formal urban 60 20,6 (20,4) 40 20,2 (20,2)
Informal urban 44 20,1 (19,5) 56 19,7 (19,2)
Ex-homeland 33 21,3 (20,9) 67 19,9 (19,6)
Commercial farming 44 21,3 (21,3) 56 20,9 (21,0)

The table shows that, as expected, respondents from formal urban

areas were more likely than others to have a watch, while those
in ex-homeland areas were least likely to have a watch. The
highest number of different episodes was observed for those with
watches in both types of rural area. In all settlements, those
who had a watch were slightly more likely to report more
episodes than those who did not have a watch. The difference
between those with and without watches was starkest for people
in ex-homeland areas. The unweighted figures are more
appropriate than the weighted in looking at this more
methodological aspect of the survey. However, the weighted and
unweighted patterns are very similar.

34
Overall description of time use activities
As noted in chapter 1, Stats SA used an adaptation of the UN
classification system that divides activities into ten broad
categories. These categories can, in turn, be divided into the
three broad SNA-related categories of SNA activities, non-SNA
production activities, and non-productive activities. Table 10
also shows the mean number of minutes spent by women, men and
all respondents on each of the ten categories on an average day.

Table 10: The ten categories of the activity coding scheme and
the mean time per day spent on them, by sex

Male Female All

(mins) (mins) (mins)
SNA
1 Work in establishments 151 83 115
2 Primary production not for establishments 26 22 24
3 Other production of goods and services not for establishments 13 11 12
Non-SNA production
4 Household maintenance 74 181 131
5 Care of persons in the household 4 32 19
6 Community service to non-household members 5 3 4
Non-productive
7 Learning 109 96 102
8 Social and cultural 218 171 193
9 Mass media use 112 105 108
0 Personal care 727 734 731

Most of the discussion in this paper focuses on activity

aggregated at the level of the first digit of the activity code,
or into the three SNA-related categories. More detailed analysis
is, however, possible. The detailed activity code table in the
statistical appendix (see page 108) gives some idea of the
possibilities. The table lists, at the three-digit level, the
number of women and men who reported performing each of the
three-digit activities as well as the mean time spent by them on
that activity.

35
Figure 1 shows the mean number of minutes which the average
person, male or female, spent on the different SNA-related
activities during a 24-hour period. It includes all men and
women, not only the 'actors' who engaged in a particular
category of activity. It shows that men spent on average 81% of
their time per day and women spent an almost equally large part
(77%) of their time on non-productive activities. There is,
however, a more significant difference between how women and men
spent the rest of their time. Men spent 13% of their time on
activities which are included in SNA calculations and 6% of
their time on non-SNA production. Women, on the other hand,
spent 8% of their time on SNA activities, and 15% on non-SNA
production.

Figure 1: Mean minutes per day spent on productive and non-

productive activities

Activities

SNA production 190 116

Non-SNA production 83 216

Non-productive activities 1 164 1 106

1 400 1 200 1 000 800 600 400 200 0 200 400 600 800 1 000 1 200 1 400
Minutes Minutes

Men Women

36
Table 11 presents the same information, but this time only for
the 'actors' who undertook activities in a given category.
Totals are not meaningful for table 11, as they would be summing
averages for different numbers of actors. The extra columns show
the number of actors who reported each of the activities. Almost
all respondents reported non-productive activities. This is
expected, as sleeping and eating fall within this category. A
smaller proportion of respondents reported SNA activities than
activities in the other two categories. This partly reflects the
high levels of unemployment in the country.

Table 11 shows that 6 036 men and 5 463 women spent time on SNA
activities. Of those who did these activities, the men spent an
average of 379 minutes in the day on them, while women spent an
average of 290 minutes. Conversely, 8 495 men and 12 578 women
spent some time during the day on non-SNA production. Of these,
the men spent an average of 117 minutes in the day on these
activities, while the women spent 235 minutes. The women thus
spent more than double the time spent by men on these
activities.

Table 11: Number of actors engaged in productive and non-

productive activities, and mean minutes per day spent on each
activity

Male Female
Activity Minutes Actors Minutes Actors
SNA production 379 6 036 290 5 463
Non-SNA production 117 8 495 235 12 578
Non-productive 1 165 12 018 1 106 13 674

When compared with the previous table, table 11 shows much

smaller differences in average time between men and women, as in
this case the total minutes for the sex-group are divided only
by those who did the activity. The same pattern is seen in later
tables.

37
Table 12 further disaggregates the information in figure 1 by
age group. The disaggregation is done for all respondents rather
than only actors. It shows that, for each age group, there are
noticeable differences in the amount of time spent by women and
men on SNA and non-SNA production activities. In all age groups,
men spent a larger proportion of their day than women on SNA
while women spent longer on non-SNA production. In all age
groups, women spent less time on non-productive activities than
men. The gender differences are least stark for the relatively
small group of people aged 60 years and above.

Table 12: Mean minutes per day spent on productive and non-
productive activities, by age group and sex

10-19 years 20-39 years 40-59 years 60 years and above

Activity Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female
SNA production 47 29 272 154 319 198 132 62
Non-SNA production 61 129 95 268 90 251 102 203
Non-productive 1 330 1 280 1 071 1 015 1 027 987 1 205 1 174
Total 1 438 1 438 1 438 1 438 1 435 1 436 1 439 1 438

Table 13 provides the more detailed 10-category breakdown, this

time by population group and sex. The table is read as follows.
• In the first row – work in establishments – we see that
Indian men spent an average of 257 minutes per day and white
men spent an average of 253 minutes per day on work in
establishments. This can be compared with the 127 minutes per
day on average spent by African men and the 181 minutes
average spent by coloured men on work in establishments.
• White women spent 165 minutes per day, on average, on work in
establishments, compared with the average of 138 minutes per
day spent by Indian women, 123 minutes by coloured women and
63 minutes by African women.
• African men spent 33 minutes per day, on average, on primary
production, compared with the average of 6 minutes per day
spent by white men.
• African women spent 188 minutes per day, on average, on
household maintenance, as against the average of 77 minutes
per day spent by African men.

38
Table 13: Mean minutes per day by activity category, population
group and sex

Whole
African Coloured Indian White population
Category Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female
Work in establishments 127 63 181 123 257 138 253 165 151 83
Primary production 33 28 5 1 1 1 6 3 26 22
Work in non-establishment 13 13 16 6 6 1 12 11 13 11
Household maintenance 77 188 54 150 49 162 73 166 74 181
Care of persons 3 32 6 35 6 24 8 32 4 32
Community service 6 3 8 3 2 0 4 4 5 3
Learning 119 102 74 77 104 99 70 65 109 96
Social & cultural 224 172 217 189 166 135 192 166 218 171
Mass media use 101 93 138 136 135 143 153 150 112 105
Personal care 737 744 734 718 713 736 669 679 727 734
Total 1 439 1 439 1 432 1 440 1 440 1 440 1 440 1 440 1 439 1 439

Table 14 shows the mean time spent by women and men on

productive and non-productive activities according to their
employment status. It reveals that the time spent by women in
all three employment categories on non-SNA production is
generally higher than that of their male counterparts. The
gender difference is more or less identical for employed and not
economically active women and men. Thus, even when employed,
women still spent almost three times as many minutes per day, on
average, than men, on these activities. Women in all employment
categories also spent less time than men on non-productive, i.e.
personal, activities. The apparent anomaly whereby respondents
who were unemployed and not economically active reported SNA
activities is discussed in the section on economic work on pages
51 and 52.

Table 14: Mean minutes per day spent on productive and non-
productive activities, by employment status and sex

Employed Unemployed Not economically active

Activity Male Female Male Female Male Female
SNA production 328 260 121 46 42 28
Non-SNA production 82 210 119 349 78 203
Non-productive 1 029 969 1 200 1 045 1 320 1 208
Total 1 439 1 438 1 440 1 440 1 439 1 439

39
Table 15 indicates the minutes per day spent on productive and
non-productive activities by personal income category and sex.
Within the highest income category, men spent 381 minutes daily
on average on SNA production activities while women spent 290
minutes. Individuals with this level of income generally spent
more time on SNA activities than other income groups. As with
other categorisations, in all income categories, women spent
more minutes per day on non-SNA production than men. Women in
all income categories except the R501-R1 000 bracket also spent
fewer minutes per day than men on non-productive activities. The
gender difference in this respect is most pronounced for those
reporting no income, where the mean for men was 1 296 minutes
per day and that for women over 100 minutes less per day.
Overall, both women and men with no reported income tended to
spend more minutes per day on non-productive activities than
those in other income groups. Further, for both women and men,
the average minutes per day spent on SNA activities increased
with increasing income. The average number of minutes per day
spent on non-SNA production showed a more complicated pattern.
For both women and men, the time was greater for those with
incomes of between R1 and R500 per month than for those with no
reported income. However, the time on this category then
decreased with increasing levels of income.

Table 15: Mean minutes per day spent on productive and non-
productive activities, by income category and sex

None R1-R500 R501-R1 000 R1 001 and above

Activity Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female
SNA production 65 37 140 106 254 136 381 290
Non-SNA production 78 212 89 234 87 209 78 191
Non-productive 1 296 1 190 1 211 1 099 1 097 1 095 981 956
Total 1 439 1 439 1 440 1 439 1 438 1 440 1 440 1 438

The presence or otherwise of other adults in a household could

influence the activities performed by an individual. Table 16
looks only at respondents aged 18 years and above and
distinguishes between those living in a household which contain
other adults and those who are the only adult in their
household. It also distinguishes between younger adults, aged
18-39 years, and those aged 40 years or more.

40
Table 16: Mean minutes per day spent by single and other adults
on productive and non-productive activities, by sex

With other adults The only adult

Male Female Male Female
Category 18-39 40+ 18-39 40+ 18-39 40+ 18-39 40+
Work in establishments 218 198 99 107 220 294 129 172
Primary production 25 24 31 18 24 12 25 27
Work in non-establishment 17 17 19 11 19 14 16 15
Household maintenance 74 77 206 205 138 114 206 221
Care of persons 5 5 26 52 1 0 16 45
Community service 9 7 5 4 3 3 3 2
Learning 4 70 3 55 5 26 4 20
Social & cultural 196 220 172 164 137 181 143 128
Mass media use 115 124 101 113 104 115 108 100
Personal care 775 699 779 711 787 680 775 710
Total 1 437 1 440 1 439 1 439 1 438 1 440 1 432 1 440

In both age groups, women who are in households containing no

other adults spent, on average, more minutes on activities used
for the calculation of GDP than those who are in households with
other adults. This suggests that women who are the only adult in
the household are more likely to be responsible for supporting
their households economically. The women living with no other
adults also spent fewer minutes on social and cultural
activities than men and those living with other adults. Older
women who are the only adult in the household spent more minutes
per day on household maintenance, on average, than their age
peers living with other adults on household maintenance. There
is, however, no difference in the average time spent per day on
this activity between younger women who live with other adults
and those who live without other adults. Men of all ages living
with other adults spent the least time per day, on average, on
household maintenance.

Although, on average, men living alone spent almost no time (one

minute) per day caring for other people, their female
counterparts spent an average of 43 minutes per day – longer
than their non-single colleagues – caring for other people. This
presumably largely reflects the child care work done by single
parents, most of whom are women.

41
Just over one in ten (11%) respondents could or would not say
what the most enjoyable activity undertaken during the recorded
day was. A full 50% could or would not say which activity they
disliked the most. Table 17 records the five least enjoyable and
five most enjoyable activities for men and women, and the
percentage this accounted for of all men and women respectively.

Table 17: Least enjoyable and most enjoyable activities by sex

Activity Men Activity Women

% %
Most disliked activity
Wage work for establishment 4 Preparing food 8
Cleaning dwelling 4 Cleaning dwelling 6
Preparing food 3 Care of textiles 4
Watching TV or video 3 Collecting water 3
Educational attendance 2 Watching TV or video 2
Most enjoyable activity
Watching TV or video 9 Watching TV or video 8
Wage work for establishment 8 Preparing food 6
Socialising with non-family 8 Socialising with family 6
Playing games 8 Educational attendance 6
Participating in sport 8 Religious activity 5

For those who named the most or least enjoyable activity, the
activity that was disliked most overall was preparing food and
drinks, followed by cleaning and upkeep of households. For men,
wage/salary employment and cleaning and upkeep of households
were the least enjoyable activities, while for women it was
preparing food and drinks, followed by cleaning and upkeep of
dwellings and then by care of textiles. The latter includes
activities such as ironing. Among elderly men, sleeping was
recorded as the least enjoyable activity. For some of these men,
sleeping might have indicated the absence of other more
interesting activities. Among elderly women, preparing meals was
the least enjoyable activity. The code for preparation of meals
covers associated tasks such as washing up and some of the
elderly women might have been referring to this. Among
teenagers, school was least enjoyable to boys and preparation of
meals for girls.

Of those who named their most enjoyable activity, watching

television or video was the most enjoyable for both women and
men. This activity was also among the five least enjoyable
activities for both women and men. The next most enjoyable

42
activities for women and men were also included among the list
of least enjoyable activities, namely wage or salary work, for
men, and preparing food, for women. For the elderly, socialising
was the most enjoyable activity for both women and men, while
for teenagers games were most enjoyable for boys and school,
followed by games, for girls.

Location
Figure 2 shows the time spent according to the various options
of the first location code (see page 14) by sex for all
activities except travel. It shows that, overall, women spent
more than three quarters (77%) of their time at home compared to
men who spent an average of 67% there. Men, on the other hand,
spent almost twice as much time as women in the workplace. Men
also spent more time, on average, than women in public spaces.

Figure 2: Mean minutes per day spent in particular locations by

sex

Location

Own dwelling 960 1 101

Someone else’s dwelling 80 62

Workplaces 124 63

Educational establishment 88 80

Public space 183 128

1 200 1 000 800 600 400 200 0 200 400 600 800 1 000 1 200 1 400
Minutes Minutes

Men Women

43
In terms of the inside/outside variable, women spent an average
of 91% of their non-travel time engaged in activities inside
compared to 85% for men. These patterns accord with a general
perception that men spend more time engaging in public life
while women tend to be confined to the private sphere.

The discussion above refers to the location of all activities.

This section reports, for each of the ten broad activity
categories, whether there are differences in where women and men
carry them out.

• Men and women spent the same large proportion of their

personal care time (96%) in their own dwellings.
• In terms of work for establishments, men spent an average of
100 minutes per day working in either fields, farms or other
workplaces, while women spent, on average, half this amount
of time in these locations (50 minutes). In addition to the
time actually working, men spent approximately 25 minutes on
average travelling in relation to work for establishments,
while women spent 13 minutes.
• In terms of primary production work, while the average number
of minutes per day spent by women and men was similar, men on
average spent more time than women working in their own home
or on a field or farm, while women spent more time on average
than men in public spaces.
• With other non-establishment income-earning activities, the
total number of minutes is too small to make clear statements
about location. However, both women and men seem more likely
to do these activities in their own homes than in other
locations.
• Women spent, on average, almost three times as many minutes
per day as men (161 compared to 57 minutes) engaged in
household maintenance activities. Women spent 89% of the time
spent on household maintenance in their own homes, while men
were in this location for 78% of the time spent on household
maintenance. Men conducted 10% of household maintenance
activities in public areas. This category includes time spent
shopping.
• Overall, on average women did eight times as much care work
as men (32 minutes and 4 minutes, respectively). Most care
work was done in respondents' own homes (27 minutes and 2
minutes respectively for women and men).
• Both men and women reported spending very little time on
community work, with locations for the limited reported
activities spread quite widely across the different options.
• On average, men spent more time than women on learning
activities in learning institutions or in their own dwellings

44
 (91 minutes), while women, on average, spent 80 minutes on
learning in these two locations. However, because women
tended to spend less time than men learning overall, these
locations account for more or less the same proportions of
total learning time of women and men.
• Women, on average, spent 79 minutes per day socialising at
home while men spent 71 minutes per day. Because men spent
more time overall on socialising (217, compared to 171
minutes for women), the 'at home' time represents 46% of
women's socialising, compared to 33% for men. On the other
hand, men spent more time on average than women socialising
in someone else's dwelling (44 minutes, or 20%) compared to
the 29 minutes (17%) spent by women. Men also spent an
average of 87 minutes per day in public spaces, either
travelling for socialising activities or socialising in
public areas such as pubs, taverns, restaurants, etc. On the
other hand, women spent an average of 53 minutes per day
socialising in these locations.
• On average, men and women spent similar amounts of time –
98-99 minutes – on media activities in their own dwellings.

Simultaneous activities
As noted in Chapter 1, a respondent could report up to three
activities for each half-hour slot. Where there was more than
one activity recorded for a half-hour slot, the respondent was
asked whether the activity was carried out simultaneously with
another activity or activities. In this section, each activity
is assigned the number of minutes that reflect its full
duration, even if the activity was conducted simultaneously with
another activity.

Of the 687 267 (unweighted) time slots with valid activities,

569 400 (83%) had only one activity recorded, 100 127 (15%) had
two activities, and 17 740 (3%) had three activities. As noted,
where multiple activities were recorded for a particular time
slot, these could have been performed either simultaneously or
one after the other. Of all time slots, 61 699 (9%) contained
two simultaneous activities and 4 389 (1%) contained three
simultaneous activities.

Activities which accounted for 10% or more of the time spent

doing activities simultaneously were socialising with family
(20%), socialising with friends (15%), watching television
(12%), eating and drinking (12%) and listening to the radio
(10%).

45
Table 18 shows that social and cultural activities accounted for
over two-fifths (41%) of all simultaneous activities while mass
media use, which includes watching television and listening to
radio, accounted for close on a quarter (23%). On average, men
and women are more or less equally likely to report simultaneous
activities - men accounted for 47% of all simultaneous minutes -
and the table shows that the patterns across categories for
women and men are similar. Where they are different, the
differences generally reflect the overall distribution of
activities of women and men across categories.

Table 18: Distribution of simultaneous activity by category and

sex

Male Female Whole population

Category % % % Total minutes
Work in establishments 5 2 4 243 056
Primary production 1 1 1 67 495
Work in non-establishment 1 1 1 71 390
Household maintenance 5 15 10 695 482
Care of persons 0 5 3 198 679
Community service 0 0 0 20 067
Learning 2 2 2 133 674
Social & cultural 46 37 41 2 810 821
Mass media use 23 23 23 1 555 019
Personal care 17 13 15 999 723
Total 100 100 100 6 795 404

Table 19 shows the most common combinations where there were two
simultaneous activities. The most frequent combination was
socialising with family and watching TV, which accounted for 12%
of all time slots in which there were two simultaneous
activities. The second and third most frequently mentioned
combinations were eating and drinking with socialising with
family and socialising with friends respectively. Of the sixteen
most common combinations, socialising with either family or
friends appeared in all but four. Listening to the radio
appeared in five of the sixteen most common combinations, while
watching TV appeared in three. Eating and drinking also appeared
three times. The second last line in the table, which shows
socialising with family for both the first and second activity,
can be explained in two ways. Firstly, there were instances
where respondents mentioned socialising with different family
members separately. Secondly, there were instances where
respondents reported doing two separate activities with family
members, both of which were later classified as socialising.
46
Table 19: Most common combinations of two simultaneous
activities

% of 2 simultaneous
1st activity 2nd activity Time slots activities
Socialise family Watch TV 7 619 12
Eat & drink Socialise family 3 966 6
Eat & drink Socialise friend 3 150 5
Wage work Socialise friends 2 772 5
Socialise family Listen radio 2 412 4
Socialise friends Watch TV 2 101 3
Eat & drink Watch TV 2 080 3
Prepare food Listen radio 1 915 3
Prepare food Socialise family 1 781 3
Clean dwelling Listen radio 1 767 3
Eat & drink Listen radio 1 484 2
Socialise friends Listen radio 1 244 2
Socialise friends Travel social 1 223 2
Socialise friends Games 1 222 2
Socialise family Socialise family 1 217 2
Travel for learning Socialise friends 1 022 2

Table 20 shows the most common combinations of three

simultaneous activities. Socialising, eating and drinking,
watching TV and listening to the radio again appear frequently.

Table 20: Most common combinations of three simultaneous

activities

% of 3 simultaneous
1st activity 2nd activity 3rd activity Time slots activities
Eat & drink Socialise family Watch TV 329 7
Socialise family Socialise family Listen radio 210 5
Eat & drink Listen radio Socialise family 146 3
Socialise family Socialise family Watch TV 122 3
Eat & drink Watch TV Socialise family 121 3
Socialise friends Socialise friends Listen radio 115 3
Eat & drink Socialise family Listen radio 104 2
Prepare food Socialise family Listen radio 97 2
Eat & drink Eat & drink Socialise friends 89 2
Cooking Listen radio Socialise family 86 2
Eat & drink Eat & drink Socialise family 58 1

47
A total of 1 400 respondents recorded time slots during which
some type of child care was performed at the same time as
another activity. Table 21 shows the most common combinations,
with the number of time slots in respect of which each was
recorded. All the common activities involved spontaneous mention
of either physical care or supervision of household children.
The activities conducted at the same time included housework,
socialising, personal care, and watching TV and listening to
radio.

Table 21: Most common combinations of child care and other

activities

1st activity 2nd activity Time slots

Physical care Socialise with family 356
Physical care Prepare food 297
Physical care Watch TV 214
Physical care Listen to radio 204
Supervision Prepare food 162
Physical care Eat & drink 160
Physical care Clean dwelling 134
Supervision Watch TV 121
Physical care Clean dwelling 118
Physical care Care of textiles 117

48
4Examining time use activities in
more detail
Economic work
The three SNA activities provide an approximation of what can be
called economic work. These are the activities which are
included in the calculation of GDP.

SNA or 'economic' work is allocated three categories in the

coding system.

The activity codes for employment for establishments are:

111 Wage and salary employment other than domestic work
112 Outworkers/home-based work for an establishment
113 Domestic and personal services produced by domestic work
114 Unpaid employment in establishment
115 Work as employer/self-employed for an establishment
130 Working in apprenticeship, internship and related
positions
140 Short breaks and interruptions from work
150 Seeking employment and related activities
180 Travel to/from work and seeking employment in
establishments
190 Employment in establishments not elsewhere classified

The codes for primary production activities not for

establishments are:
210 Crop farming and market/kitchen gardening: planting,
weeding, harvesting, picking, etc.
220 Tending animals and fish farming
230 Hunting, fishing, gathering of wild products and
forestry
236 Collecting fuel, firewood or dung
240 Digging, stone cutting, splitting and carving
250 Collecting water
260 Purchase of goods for and sale of outputs arising from
these activities
280 Travel related to primary production activities (not for
establishments)
290 Primary production activities (not for establishments)
not elsewhere classified

The codes for services for income and other production of

goods not for establishments are:
310 Food processing and preservation activities: grain
processing, butchering, preserving, curing

49
 320 Preparing and selling food and beverage preparation,
baking, confectionery and related activities
330 Making and selling textile, leather and related craft:
weaving, knitting, sewing, shoemaking, tanning, products
of wood
340 Building and extensions of dwelling: laying bricks,
plastering, thatch, roofing, maintaining and repairing
buildings; cutting glass, plumbing, painting,
carpentering, electric wiring
350 Petty trading, street/door-to-door vending, shoe-
cleaning and other services performed in non-fixed or
mobile locations
360 Fitting, installing, tool setting, maintaining and
repairing tools and machinery
370 Provision of services for income such as computer
services, transport, hairdressing, cosmetic treatment,
baby-sitting, massages, prostitution
380 Travel related to services for income and other
production of goods (not for establishments)
390 Services for income and other production of goods (not
for establishments) not elsewhere classified

One of the aims of the time use survey was to improve

measurement and understanding of economic work and, in
particular, the 'less well understood productive activities such
as subsistence work, casual work and work in the informal
sector'. Around the world, most statistical offices will
acknowledge that they are weaker at capturing statistics about
informal work than formal.

Over the last few years Stats SA has attempted to improve its
capturing of informal and 'non-standard' work. This has been
done most recently through the reframing of work questions in
the labour force survey, which, in addition, included an
informal sector module in the March 2001 round. Nevertheless, it
is likely that even the new approaches are not capturing all
work activity as the instruments contend with the strong
perceptions and assumptions of both interviewers and respondents
as to what constitutes work.

The time use study is a complementary way of approaching the

issue of work and can serve as a check on the results of other
surveys. The demographic part of the time use survey asked the
basic employment questions in the same way as they are asked in

50
the labour force survey. As observed above, the questions
involve detailed prompts about whether the person spent even one
hour a week on a range of different activities which are
regarded as economic work during the previous seven days. The
answers to these questions can be compared with how people then
describe what they did the previous day.

Tables 22 and 23 show the extent to which reported activities in

the diary match the employment status of individuals as derived
from the demographic questions. As noted above, individuals are
classified into three categories in terms of employment status.
• Employed people are those who say they have done any type of
the prompted economic work in the past seven days, whether
paid or unpaid. Those who did not work in the past seven days
but have definite work to which they will return are also
classified as employed.
• Unemployed people are those who are willing to work, have
looked for work in the past four weeks, and would be able to
start work within a week.
• All other individuals are classified as not economically
active.

Table 22 looks at whether people who performed at least one SNA

activity during the diary day were employed, unemployed or not
economically active. It shows that about two-thirds of those
performing SNA activities classified themselves as employed,
while 5% classified themselves as unemployed, and 29% as not
economically active. The situation of the 34% (5% plus 29%) who
are classified as unemployed or not economically active seems
contradictory as, if someone has performed work in the past 24
hours, they have also done so in the past seven days. The
situation of the 25% of those with no SNA activity recorded, but
who nevertheless reported themselves as employed, is not
necessarily anomalous. The SNA classification is based on a
single day that could, for example, have been a weekend day,
while employment status reflects activities over the past seven
days.

Table 22: Engagement in SNA activity by employment status

Employed Unemployed NEA Total

No SNA Respondents 3 547 1 286 9 362 14 196
% 25 9 66 100
SNA Respondents 7 575 587 3 340 11 502
% 66 5 29 100

51
Table 23 refines the previous table by excluding several
activities which are defined as part of SNA according to the UN
trial classification but that could (and sometimes should) not
be considered as economic work. These activities are fetching
wood and water, looking for work, and travel connected with SNA
activities. The table shows a closer match than previously
between employment status and activity in that 81% of those who
did SNA activities said they were employed, 2% said they were
unemployed and 16% not economically active. The discrepancy -
18% of all those reporting SNA activities - still suggests,
however, that Stats SA's standard employment status questions
may not be picking up on all economic activity. This merits
further investigation.

Table 23: Engagement in refined SNA activity by employment

status

Employed Unemployed NEA Total

No SNA Respondents 4 342 1 667 11 367 17 376
% 25 10 65 100
SNA Respondents 6 781 206 1 335 8 334
% 81 2 16 100

The different prompts for economic activity allow a comparison

between people who report being engaged in different types of
work. Many of the comparisons do not require a time use survey -
they could as easily be done with the much larger dataset of the
labour force survey. Thus, for example, in prompting for
employment, one of the options is whether the person has done
domestic work for another household for payment in kind or cash.
In the time use survey, over 800 respondents – 633 women and 185
men – reported that they had engaged in this activity during the
previous seven days. Over three-quarters of these respondents
described their main occupation as elementary. Women (90%) were
far more likely than men (26%) to give this description. On the
other hand, 55% of men who said they had done domestic work for
another household reported their occupation as skilled
agriculture – presumably mainly gardening. This categorisation
suggests possible gender bias on the way 'skill' is perceived in
the standard occupational classification.

52
Similarly, the last option in the employment prompts related to
'any other work for wage, salary, piecework pay, commission or
payment in kind'. Over 6 000 respondents reported this activity
– 3 635 men and 2 449 women. Figure 3 shows the breakdown in
terms of occupational category for men and women. It reveals
that men are slightly more likely than women to be in managerial
and professional occupations (10 and 6% respectively), while
women are more likely than men to be in clerical (23% as against
8%) and elementary (29% as against 18%) than men. The proportion
of men in craft work is five times that of women.

Figure 3: Occupation by sex for those engaged in wage or

salaried work

Occupation

Managers 5 3

Professionals 5 3

Technicians 11 17

Clerical workers 8 23

Service/sales 14 14

Skilled agriculture 5 1

Craft workers 20 4

Operators 14 4

Elementary workers 18 29

35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
% %

Men Women

Education by occupation

The time use and labour force surveys can also provide
information on the relationship between level of education and
the different work activities asked for in the prompts. In South
Africa primary school extends from grade 1 through grade 7,
while secondary school covers grade 8 to grade 12. Grade 12 is
commonly referred to as 'matric'.

53
In the time use survey:
• A large percentage of men (40%) who worked in their own
business had at least matric, while only 27% of women who
responded positively to this prompt had matric. Conversely,
the proportion of women (11%) with no formal education but
who worked in their own business was higher than that of men
(4%).
• Of those who said they had worked unpaid in a family
business, close on half (45%) of the women had some secondary
education but had not completed matric. Men, on the other
hand, were more or less equally likely to be at this level as
to have matric or higher (39% and 37% respectively).
• The percentage of women with no formal education engaged in
farming activities (17%) was higher than that of men (7%). A
large proportion of the people who engaged in farming
activities had some secondary education, but had not achieved
matric. The percentage was 41% for men and 32% for women.
• Men, regardless of their level of education, were far more
likely than women to be engaged in fishing activities. Only
32 women reported this activity, compared to 111 men. Around
half of all those engaged in this activity had completed less
than grade 7.
• Of women who reported domestic work in the previous seven
days, only 6% had achieved matric and 45% had some secondary
schooling but not matric. Of the smaller number of men
reporting this activity, 25% had matric.
• Of those employed in other work for a wage, almost half the
women (48%) had matric or more, as did 39% of the men.
Conversely, 24% of the men had less than grade 7, compared to
17% of the women.

Figure 4 focuses on the activities of employed men and women

between the ages of 20 and 39 years. It excludes all other
respondents. The 20-39 year age group represents those who are
likely to be at the peak of both their productive and
reproductive activities.

54
Figure 4: Mean minutes per day spent by the employed aged 20-39
in productive and non-productive activities, by sex

Categories

Work in establishments 312 239

Primary production 16 15

Non-establishment production 25 24

Household maintenance 73 173

Care of persons 5 44

Community service 8 5

Learning 13 14

Social & cultural 199 141

Mass media use 108 102

Personal care 681 682

800 600 400 200 0 200 400 600 800

Minutes Minutes

Men Women

The figure shows that employed men in this age group tended, on
average, to spend more minutes (353 minutes total) than women
(278 minutes) in working for establishments, in primary
production and on other non-establishment production. On
average, men also spent substantially more time than women
socialising (199 and 141 minutes per day respectively). In terms
of housework, on average women spent more than twice as much
time as men (173 compared to 73 minutes per day). Employed women
also spent, on average, more than five times as much time as men
in care work (44 minutes per day compared to 5). Women and men
spent similar amounts of time on learning. If both SNA
production and non-production activities are together regarded
as work, employed women spent far more time than men working,
but less of their time doing paid work.

55
Unpaid labour - Housework

The activity codes for household maintenance, management and

shopping for own household are as follows:
410 Cooking, making drinks, setting and serving tables,
washing up
420 Cleaning and upkeep of dwelling and surroundings
430 Care of textiles: sorting, mending, washing, ironing and
ordering clothes and linen
440 Shopping for personal and household goods
441 Accessing government service, such as collecting
pension, going to post office
448 Waiting to access government service
450 Household management: planning, supervising, paying
bills, etc.
460 Do-it-yourself home improvements and maintenance,
installation, servicing and repair of personal and
household goods
470 Pet care
480 Travel related to household maintenance, management and
shopping
490 Household maintenance, management and shopping not
elsewhere classified
491 Chopping wood, lighting fire and heating water not for
immediate cooking purposes

We would expect that employment of a paid domestic worker would

affect the amount of time spent by household members on
household maintenance tasks. Table 24 shows that women,
irrespective of whether or not a domestic worker bears the main
responsibility for the household's housework, spent on average
more than twice as many minutes per day as men on housework.
Employment of a domestic worker affected the average amount of
time per day that both women and men spent on these tasks, but
led to a greater proportional decrease in men's workload than in
women's. Women who lived in households where domestic workers
bore the main responsibility for housework spent an average of
148 minutes per day on housework, while men spent only 47
minutes per day. Women in households where a household member
bore the main responsibility for housework spent an average of
183 minutes, while men spent an average of 75 minutes.

56
Table 24: Mean minutes per day spent on housework by whether or
not a domestic worker has the main responsibility for housework
and sex of respondent

Employ domestic worker Men Women

No domestic worker 75 183
Domestic worker 47 148

Table 25 looks at who bears the main responsibility for

housework in those households where this person is a household
member. It shows that, overall, a higher proportion of women
than men bear the main responsibility for housework. This
pattern persists across all population groups but it is
strongest in coloured and Indian households. The age breakdown
also shows that over half of all men and women bearing the main
responsibility for housework are between the ages of 20 and 39
years.

Table 25: Distribution of individuals who did the most housework

by sex and age

Male Female Total

Number % Number % Number %
Population group
African 1 256 22 4 569 78 5 825 100
Coloured 71 9 732 91 803 100
Indian 18 10 165 90 183 100
White 187 20 746 80 933 100
Total 1 533 20 6 218 80 7 751 100
Age
10-19 148 23 505 77 653 100
20-39 860 20 3 360 80 4 220 100
40-59 377 19 1 619 81 1 996 100
60+ 115 17 555 83 670 100
Total 1 533 20 6 218 80 7 751 100

While the tables in the appendix suggest that the majority of

women spend some time each day on household maintenance,
homemakers are generally seen as those for whom this type of
work is an unpaid 'job'. The demographic questionnaire did not
ask all people whether they considered themselves to be
homemakers. However, for those who were not economically active,
one of the possible reasons for this status was that the person

57
was responsible for housework, and/or looking after children or
other persons. This response gives a proxy for homemakers.

Table 26 distinguishes between women homemakers and all other

women respondents, and shows the average time spent by each
group on household maintenance. It shows, firstly, that
homemakers are less common in flats, houses, cluster and
townhouses than in less formal dwellings. It shows, secondly,
that there is virtually no difference in the average number of
minutes per day spent on household maintenance by homemakers in
different types of dwellings. Non-homemakers, on average, tend
to spend less time than homemakers on household maintenance.
Those in formal dwellings spend fewer minutes per day on average
on household maintenance than those in less formal dwellings.
Both these patterns could be related to the likelihood of women
in the different groups engaging in SNA-type work and thus
having less time for household maintenance, and/or greater
ability to get someone else to do this work.

Table 26: Mean minutes per day spent on household maintenance by

women who are homemakers and those who are not homemakers, by
type of dwelling

Non-homemakers Homemakers
Dwelling type Respondents Minutes Respondents Minutes
Flat, house, cluster, townhouse 405 168 406 255
All other dwellings 4 126 193 8 736 254

Time spent on housework in relation to access to appliances

Household appliances such as refrigerators, electric stoves,

vacuum cleaners and washing machines should assist in making
household work easier. Overall, 20% of households had vacuum
cleaners, 24% had washing machines, 56% had refrigerators and
56% had stoves. A third (33%) of respondents lived in households
with none of the above appliances, 17% were in households with
one appliance, 25% with two appliances, 9% with three appliances

58
and 15% with all four appliances. Figure 5 shows whether the
presence of appliances in the home reduces the average number of
minutes per day spent by women and men on housework by comparing
the household maintenance activities of people in households
with no, one, two, three or four appliances. The table shows a
slight tendency for the time to be reduced for both women and
men who have access to appliances. However, women continue to
spend significantly longer than men on housework, no matter how
many appliances are available.
Figure 5: Mean minutes per day spent on housework, by number of
appliances in the household of respondent and sex of respondent

Available appliances

0 74 195

1 80 191

2 79 183

3 54 143

4 68 159

250 200 150 100 20 0 50 100 150 200 250

Minutes Minutes

Men Women

59
Time spent on housework in relation to sources of fuel and
water

Many people would consider fetching wood and water from a source
outside the dwelling unit as part of housework, rather than as
an economic activity, even though the latter is how it is
officially considered for SNA purposes. Table 27 is based on a
re-categorisation of these two activities as part of the
household maintenance category. The table shows that, for each
age group, the average number of minutes per day spent on
housework by men was less than that of women. The difference in
average minutes per day for men and women was starkest for those
aged between 40 and 59 years. This is also the age category for
which the average for women was highest – at close on four hours
a day.

Table 27: Mean number of minutes per day spent on housework,

including fetching fuel and water, by age group

Age Male Female Male as % female

10-19 68 131 52
20-39 87 224 39
40-59 81 232 35
60 plus 91 187 48

The household section of the questionnaire asked about the main

sources of energy and water for each household. Access to
different forms of energy can be expected to affect the
activities of individuals in the household. For example, access
to electricity is likely to make certain tasks – such as
computer use – possible. It will also affect tasks done, the
time spent on a range of tasks, and the time spent sleeping or
in bed. Table 28 shows the percentage distribution of households
by the main source of energy for cooking, heating and lighting
and settlement area.

60
Table 28: Distribution of households by source of energy and
type of settlement area

Formal urban Informal urban Ex-homeland Commercial farming All areas

Amenity % % % % %
Cooking
Electricity 77 28 17 36 50
Gas/paraffin 21 70 36 26 32
Wood/dung 1 2 47 39 19
Other 0 0 0 0 0
Total 100 100 100 100 100
Heating
Electricity 66 18 14 28 42
Gas/paraffin 18 54 23 15 23
Wood/dung 3 4 52 45 21
Other 13 25 11 12 14
Total 100 100 100 100 100
Lighting
Electricity 91 52 45 54 70
Gas/paraffin/candle 8 48 54 45 30
Solar & other 0 0 0 1 0
Total 100 100 100 100 100

The table shows that:

• Over three-quarters of formal urban households used
electricity for cooking, while the percentage was 36% or
lower in all other settlement areas. In informal urban areas
the most common source of energy for cooking was gas or
paraffin, while wood or dung were prevalent in rural areas.
• The major energy source used for heating in rural areas was
wood or dung. In urban formal areas, electricity was used by
two-thirds of households, while gas or paraffin was used by
more than half the informal urban households.
• Almost all (91%) of households in formal urban settlements
used electricity for lighting. The proportion of households
using electricity for lighting in formal urban settlements
was almost twice that of informal urban settlements. Further,
the proportion of households in informal urban settlements
that used electricity for lighting purposes was lower than
that for commercial farming areas.

61
Ease of access to water will also affect the activity of
individuals in households. Most obviously, where water is not
available in the household or on the premises, household members
will spend time collecting it. Table 29 shows the percentage
distribution of households by the location of the source of
water and settlement area.

Table 29: Distribution of households by source of water and type

of settlement area

Formal urban Informal urban Ex-homeland Commercial farming All areas

Source % % % % %
In dwelling 68 8 3 27 38
On-site 27 47 18 33 26
Off-site 5 42 78 38 35
Other 1 3 1 2 1
Total 100 100 100 100 100

Table 29 shows that over two-thirds (68%) of households in

formal urban areas had water in the dwelling, but that the
percentage with this ease of access was much lower in other
areas. Overall, 38% of all households had water available in the
dwelling, a further quarter (26%) had it available on site, and
over a third (35%) obtained water off site. In ex-homeland
areas, over three-quarters of households obtained water off
site.

Those households which reported needing to collect water were

asked whether male or female members were usually responsible
for this task. Table 30 shows that in all settlement areas,
women and girls were more likely than men and boys to bear
responsibility for collecting water, particularly in ex-homeland
areas. There the main water collectors were women in over three-
quarters of households, with men and women equally responsible
in a further 9% of households.

62
Table 30: Distribution of usual water collectors in households
where water was collected from an off-site source, by type of
settlement area

Formal urban Informal urban Ex-homeland Commercial farming All areas

% % % % %
Mostly male 26 28 15 31 18
Mostly female 51 53 76 55 70
Equally male and
female 23 19 9 14 12
Total 100 100 100 100 100

Figure 6 compares the responses in respect of the main water and

fuel collectors in those households where water and fuel are
collected from a source outside the dwelling. It shows very
similar patterns for the two in terms of whether it is male or
female members who are the main collectors.

Figure 6: Usual household fuel and water collectors by sex

Water Fuel

18%
16%

70% 74%
10%
12%

Male Female Both male & female

63
The diaries provide more accurate information about the gender
division for this task. The household section asked about the
distance of the water source from the dwelling. The bars in
figure 7 again show that women were more likely than men to
collect water, no matter what the distance from the source. The
line shows further that the mean minutes per day spent fetching
water increased with the distance from the source. For example,
those who were less than 100 metres from the source spent an
average of 44 minutes per day, while those one kilometre or more
away spent an average of 71 minutes per day.

Figure 7: Usual collectors of water and mean minutes per day

spent on this activity, by distance from the source and sex

Men/Women
600
71

500 467 61
59

400
47 354
44 338

300 290

200 189 185

161 171

113
100
61

0
Less than 100m to less 200m to less 500m to less 1km and more
100m than 200m than 500m than 1km

Distance
Men Women Mean minutes

64
Figure 8, which is based on the diaries, shows, as before, that
women were more likely than men to collect fuel in those
households where this activity was necessary, no matter what the
distance from the source. For those who were less than 100
metres distant from the source, the mean time is 78 minutes per
day. For those who were at more than a kilometre distant, the
mean time is 128 minutes per day. Comparison of this figure with
that for water suggests that, firstly, more people collect fuel
than collect water and, secondly, that the time spent on fuel
collection tends to be longer than the time spent on water
collection.

Figure 8: Usual collectors of fuel and mean minutes per day

spent on this activity, by distance from the source and sex

Men/Women
250

205
200

125 128
118 113
150
78
102 99
100 91
82
76 72

50
24 23
7
0
Less than 100m to less 200m to less 500m to less 1km
100m than 200m than 500m than 1km or more

Distance
Men Women Mean minutes

65
Unpaid labour - Care work

The activity codes for care for children, the sick, elderly
and disabled for own household are:
511 Physical care of children: washing, dressing, feeding –
mentioned spontaneously
512 Physical care of children: washing, dressing, feeding –
not mentioned spontaneously
521 Teaching, training and instruction of household's
children – mentioned spontaneously
522 Teaching, training and instruction of household's
children – not mentioned spontaneously
531 Accompanying children to places: school, sports,
lessons, etc. – mentioned spontaneously
532 Accompanying children to places: school, sports,
lessons, etc. – not mentioned spontaneously
540 Physical care of the sick, disabled, elderly household
members: washing, dressing, feeding, helping
550 Accompanying adults to receive personal care services:
such as hairdresser's, therapy sessions, etc.
561 Supervising children and adults needing care – mentioned
spontaneously
562 Supervising children and adults needing care – not
mentioned spontaneously
580 Travel related to care of children, the sick, elderly
and disabled in the household
590 Care of children, the sick, elderly and disabled in the
household not elsewhere classified

There is an additional care code in respect of caring for

non-household members.

The tables below first report on all reported child care

activities. They then distinguish between those mentioned
spontaneously and those mentioned only after prompting. This
distinction, between prompted and unprompted child care, is
discussed in Chapter 1.

Whether individuals have children, and whether these children

are living with them, is likely to affect the amount of child
care work they do. Table 31 reveals how many women and men of
different ages (a) have no children under seven years, (b) have
one or more children but none of these children living with
them, and (c) have at least one child of this age living with

66
them. It shows that the 20–39 age group has the highest
proportion of both men and women with children under the age of
seven years. However, those in this age group are also more
likely than others not to have the children living with them.
Women are both more likely than men to report having children,
and more likely to report that the children live with them. Thus
9 737 of a total of 12 019 men (81%) and 10 141 of a total of
13 673 women (74%) reported that they had no children of this
age, while 3 145 women (23%) and 1 521 men (13%) reported that
they had children of this age living with them.

Table 31: Respondents who had children under 7 years living with
them or elsewhere and those who did not, by sex of respondent

Age No children under 7 Children under 7, but not Children under 7, and living Total
group living in household in household
Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female
N % N % N % N % N % N % N % N %
10-29 4 190 43 3 961 39 14 2 15 4 4 0 154 5 4 208 35 4 130 30
20-39 3 132 32 2 654 26 567 74 321 83 994 65 2 526 80 4 693 39 5 501 40
40-59 1 503 15 2 169 21 173 23 46 12 470 31 437 14 2 146 18 2 652 19
60+ 912 9 1 358 13 8 1 4 1 52 3 27 1 972 8 1 389 10
Total 9 737 100 10 141 100 761 100 387 100 1 521 100 3 145 100 12 019 100 13 673 100

Table 32 shows the same information, but this time in respect of

children under 18 years. The table again shows that women and
men in the 20-39 year age group accounted for the largest
proportion of people with children of this age. Again, too,
women were more likely than men to report having children. This
time 8 130 (68%) of all men and 7 944 (58%) of all women
reported no children of this age, while 4 938 women (36%) and
2 641 men (22%) men reported that children of this age live with
them.

Table 32: Respondents who had children under 18 years living

with them or elsewhere and those who did not, by sex of
respondent

Age No children under 18 Children under 18, but not Children under 18, and Total
group living in household living in household
Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female
N % N % N % N % N % N % N % N %
10-19 4 180 51 3 941 50 18 1 19 2 10 0 171 3 4 208 35 4 131 30
20-39 2 558 31 1 702 21 799 64 507 64 1 336 51 3 291 67 4 693 39 5 500 40
40-59 634 8 1 056 13 383 31 225 28 1 128 43 1 372 28 2 145 18 2 653 19
60+ 758 9 1 245 16 48 4 40 5 167 6 104 2 973 8 1 389 10
Total 8 130 100 7 944 100 1 249 100 791 100 2 641 100 4 938 100 12 019 100 13 673 100

67
Table 33 shows that the average time spent by both women and men
on child care tends to increase when they have children under
seven and, even more so, when the children live with them. Women
in each category spent more minutes per day, on average, than
men on child care. Thus women with children living with them
spent an average of 87 minutes a day on child care, compared to
an average of seven minutes for men in this position and 12
minutes for women with no children of this age.

Table 33: Mean minutes per day spent on child care by whether or
not respondent had children under 7 living in the household or
living elsewhere and sex of respondent

Children under 7 Male Female

None 2 12
Yes, but not living in household 3 17
Yes, and living in household 7 87

Table 34, in respect of children under 18 years, shows a very

similar pattern. However, the average time spent by both women
and men was slightly lower in respect of this group of children.
This is understandable as the older children are better able to
care for themselves. Nevertheless, women with children under 18
years living with them still spent over an hour, on average,
each day on child care.

Table 34: Mean minutes per day spent on child care by whether or
not respondent had children under 18 living in the household or
living elsewhere and sex of respondent

Children under 18 Male Female

None 2 9
Yes, but not living in household 2 14
Yes, and living in household 6 64

Table 35 shows that approximately 16% of the total time spent on

child care by men was mentioned only after prompting, while this
was the case for only about 4% of the total time spent on child
care by women.

68
Table 35: Total minutes spent in the recorded day on child care
by all respondents, by whether the activity was mentioned with
or without prompting and sex of respondent

Sex Prompt Total minutes

Male Without 26 482
With 5 139
Female Without 382 252
With 17 383

Table 36 provides a further breakdown by both sex and detailed

activity code. The first columns show the total minutes per day
spent on the different activities, while the following columns
show the percentage breakdown for each activity for
spontaneously mentioned activity and activity only mentioned
after prompting. Supervising children and adults and caring for
non-household children emerge as the activities that are most
likely to require prompting before they are mentioned. While
caring for non-household children is a relatively uncommon
activity, supervision is the most often-mentioned child care
activity after physical care. For all activities, men were more
likely to require prompting than women. In respect of caring for
non-household children, only one-fifth of the minutes per day
spent on this activity was mentioned by men before prompting.

Table 36: Child care by prompt, sex of respondent and type of

activity

Total minutes %
Activity Male Female Total Male Female Total
Physical care of household children No prompt 15 138 314 330 329 468 83 97 96
Prompt 3 050 11 061 14 110 17 3 4
Teaching & training of household children No prompt 4 244 21 361 25 605 91 96 95
Prompt 445 893 1 338 9 4 5
Accompanying household children No prompt 1 971 7 760 9 731 90 93 92
Prompt 216 574 790 10 7 8
Supervising children/adults No prompt 4 992 32 885 37 878 85 88 88
Prompt 879 4 361 5 241 15 12 12
Caring for non-household children No prompt 137 5 915 6 052 20 92 85
Prompt 549 494 1 043 80 8 15

69
Table 37 looks at whether the number of children under seven
years that a person has living in the household with them
affects the likelihood that they will report child care
activities. It also looks at whether the number of children
living with a respondent will affect whether they will report
child care spontaneously or only after prompting. The table
shows, firstly, that the likelihood of reporting no child care
decreases with the number of children a person has. Thus, for
example, 95-6% of men with no children reported no child care,
while 79% of those with three children had no reported child
care activities. For women the comparable percentages were 85-6%
and 19% respectively. The table shows further that 1-2% of men
reported additional child care activities when prompted. This
percentage does not seem to be affected by the number of
children the man has. For women, the likelihood of both
spontaneous and prompted reporting increased with the number of
children.

Table 37: Distribution of reporting of child care, by number of

children under 7 living with the respondent and sex of
respondent

Number of children %
Sex Reported care 0 1 2 3 All
Male Prompted 1 1 2 1 1
All unprompted 4 4 10 20 5
None 96 95 88 79 94
Total 100 100 100 100 100
Female Prompted 2 2 8 8 4
All unprompted 12 13 58 73 24
None 86 85 34 19 72
Total 100 100 100 100 100

Table 38 repeats the same exercise in respect of children under

18 years. The percentages reporting no child care is, as
expected, higher for this age group. Thus 84% of men and 45% of
women with three or more children reported no child care
activities. With this age group there is a tendency among both
men and women for the proportions of both prompted and
unprompted activities to increase with the number of children.

70
Table 38: Distribution of reporting of child care, by number of
children under 18 living with the respondent and sex of
respondent

Number of children %
Sex Reported care 0 1 2 3 All
Male Prompted 1 1 2 2 1
All unprompted 3 2 10 14 5
None 96 97 88 84 94
Total 100 100 100 100 100
Female Prompted 2 2 5 6 4
All unprompted 9 11 46 49 24
None 88 86 49 45 72
Total 100 100 100 100 100

Learning

The activity codes for learning are:

710 School, technikon, college or university attendance
720 Homework, studies and course review
730 Additional study, non-formal education and courses
during free time
740 Work-related training
780 Travel related to learning
790 Learning not elsewhere classified

South Africa has relatively good enrolment rates for schooling,

but relatively poor performance. The time use survey provides an
opportunity to learn more about how long children and adults are
spending on learning, whether inside or outside educational
institutions.

One would expect that teenagers, in particular, would spend more

time on average on learning than those in other age groups. This
pattern is borne out by the detailed tabulations in the
appendix. However, the tabulations also show that girls spent
slightly longer on learning activities than boys.

Respondents were not asked directly in the demographic section

of the questionnaire whether they were currently studying or
not. However, a question asking why the person was neither
working nor looking for work, had the response 'in education or
71
training' as one of the responses. Table 39 classifies these
respondents as 'students', and examines whether there is a
difference in the time spent on learning activities between
students and non-students of different age groups. The blank
cells for women aged 40-59 years and both women and men aged 60
years and above indicates that there were no individuals
classified as students in these groups.

Table 39: Mean minutes per day spent by students and non-
students on learning, by sex and age group

Age group Sex Non-students Students

10-19 Male 258 280
Female 265 278
20-39 Male 33 229
Female 26 229
40-59 Male 5 51
Female 3 -
60 and above Male 1 -
Female 2 -

The table shows, as expected, that for each age group students
tended to spend more time than non-students on learning
activities. The difference was smallest for the teenagers. This
pattern is probably the result of our inexact category of
'students', in that many of these respondents might well have
been enrolled at educational institutions, but also have been
engaged in some economy activity, or have been looking for work,
and were therefore not captured as 'students'.

Table 40 focuses on teenagers. It examines how they spent the

minutes of the day that they did not devote to SNA production or
personal care. It looks how these minutes were allocated to
learning, on the one hand, and social and cultural activities
and mass media use, on the other. It thus provides a proxy of
the division between learning and leisure activities. The table
shows that both boys and girls spent more time on leisure than

72
on learning. However, the difference between the time spent on
these two types of activities is much greater for boys than for
girls. Boys spent 1,3 minutes per day on average on leisure for
every minute spent on learning, while for girls the ratio was
1,1 to 1.

Table 40: Mean minutes per day spent by teenagers on learning,

play and leisure activities, by sex

Activity Boys Girls

Leisure 344 294
Learning 263 267

Table 41 provides information as to where people undertake

learning activities. The analysis for this table excludes travel
time in connection with learning. Overall, more than 90% of
total time spent by respondents on learning took place in an
educational establishment. The table shows that a larger
proportion (95%) of the minutes per day spent on learning by
teenagers was spent in educational establishments than was the
case for older people (81%). The teenagers accounted for 85% of
all learning time, excluding time spent on travel related to
learning. There were no observable differences between men and
women.

Table 41: Distribution of minutes per day spent on learning by

teenagers and older people, by location in which the activity
took place

10-19 years 20 years and above All

Location % % %
Institution 95 81 93
Elsewhere 5 19 7
All locations 100 100 100

73
Leisure

The activity codes for social and cultural activities are:

810 Participating in cultural activities, weddings,
funerals, births, and other celebrations
820 Participating in religious activities: religious
services, practices, rehearsals, etc.
831 Socialising with family
832 Socialising with non-family
833 Socialising with both family and non-family
840 Arts, making music, hobbies and related courses
850 Indoor and outdoor sports participation and related
courses
860 Games and other pastime activities
870 Spectator to sports, exhibitions/museums,
cinema/theatre/concerts and other performances and
events
880 Travel related to social, cultural and recreational
activities
890 Social, cultural and recreational activities not
elsewhere classified

The activity codes for mass media use are:

910 Reading
920 Watching television and video
930 Listening to music/radio
940 Accessing information by computer
950 Visiting library
980 Travel related to mass media use and entertainment
990 Mass media use and entertainment not elsewhere
classified

Aside from personal care, leisure activities can be interpreted

to include the categories covering social, cultural and mass
media use activities. This section analyses how different groups
spend time on these.

Table 42 shows that teenage boys spent the most minutes per day,
on average, on leisure activities, with women aged 40-59
spending the least minutes per day, on average. Overall, men in
all age groups spent more minutes per day, on average, than
women on leisure.

74
Table 42: Mean minutes per day spent on leisure activities, by
age group and sex

Activity 10-19 20-39 40-59 60+

Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female
Socialising 95 90 138 112 129 103 145 147
Watching television 76 76 81 75 70 70 76 55
Listening to radio 20 18 32 30 30 25 33 36
Other mass media use 5 7 8 7 10 7 12 11
Other social and cultural activities 148 104 76 46 49 47 67 54
Total 343 295 334 269 288 252 333 303

Table 43 shows that, on average, men in urban formal settings

spent the most minutes per day on leisure and women in ex-
homeland and urban informal areas spent the least time. There
are only small differences in the average minutes per day spent
by men in different settings on socialising, but women in
informal urban areas spent noticeably fewer minutes, on average,
on this activity than other women. On average, men and women in
formal urban areas spent most minutes per day watching
television. There were few differences on either sex or
settlement type lines in respect of average time spent listening
to the radio.

Table 43: Mean minutes per day spent on leisure activities, by

settlement type and sex

Commercial
Activity Formal urban Informal urban Ex-homeland farming
Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female
Socialising 123 107 118 91 121 110 119 115
Watching television 107 106 69 66 41 34 48 47
Listening to radio 27 26 29 26 28 25 26 26
Other mass media use 11 12 6 4 4 2 5 5
Other social and cultural activities 85 61 86 57 118 71 73 60
Total 353 312 308 244 312 242 271 253

75
Personal care

The activity codes for personal care and self-maintenance

are:
010 Sleep and related activities
020 Eating and drinking
030 Personal hygiene and health
041 Receiving medical and personal care from professionals
(including traditional healer)
042 Receiving medical and personal care from household
members
043 Receiving medical and personal care from non-household
non-professionals
048 Waiting for medical and personal care
050 Doing nothing, rest and relaxation
060 Individual religious practices and meditation
080 Travel related to personal care and self-maintenance
090 Personal care and self-maintenance not elsewhere
classified

The analysis above has revealed that South Africans spend a

considerable amount of their daily life on personal care and
maintenance activities. Table 44 reveals the differences between
women and men of different ages as to how many minutes per day
they spend, on average, overall on this category of activities
and, within the category, what they are doing.

76
Table 44: Mean minutes per day spent on personal care
activities, by age group and sex

10-19 20-39 40-59 60+

Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female
Sleep 573 578 540 566 553 565 641 644
Eat & drink 72 67 67 59 74 64 85 73
Hygiene & health 54 52 47 46 47 45 40 42
Receive medical & personal care
from:
Professional 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1
Household member 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Other person 0 0 0 0 0
Waiting for care 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1
Doing nothing 20 19 34 35 49 49 93 101
Individual religious 1 1 2 1 2 3 2 3
Travel 2 1 2 2 3 2 4 2
Waiting travel 0 0 0 0 0
Not elsewhere classified 0 0 4 1 4 1 3 1
Total 724 719 697 713 734 731 871 868

The table shows that a large proportion of personal care

involved sleep and related activities. Elderly women and men
spent about 640 minutes on average per day – more than ten
hours – sleeping. Men aged 20-39 spent, on average, the fewest
minutes per day sleeping. In all age groups women tended to
spend longer sleeping than men, but the differences are
relatively small. The next most common activity for all age
groups was eating and drinking. This accounted for as many as 85
minutes, on average, of an elderly man's day. Women aged 20-39
spent the least time eating – about one hour per day.

The other common activities are hygiene and health, and doing
nothing. Hygiene and health includes activities such as washing
and dressing. Here, on average, the youngest respondents spent
longer than older ones. Doing nothing covers rest and relaxation
time during which the respondent reported no other activity.
Doing nothing accounted for over an hour and a half of the day,
on average, for elderly men and women, and 49 minutes, on
average, of the day for both women and men between the ages of
40 and 59 years.

77
Travel
There was no observable difference in the average number of
minutes per day spent travelling, either for men or women,
between those who had access to public transport in the form of
a train, bus or minibus taxi within a 30-minute walk of the
dwelling and those who did not have such access. There was also
very little difference for either women or men in the average
number of minutes spent travelling between those whose
households had the use of a car and those whose households did
not.

Table 45 shows that men tended to spend more minutes per day
travelling than women. However, on average, women and men spent
more or less equal proportions of the minutes in which they did
travel using the different modes of transport. Women were
slightly more likely than men to walk, while men had a tendency
to use private transport.

Table 45: Mean minutes per day spent travelling, by mode of

travel and sex

Male Female
Mode of travel Minutes % Minutes %
Walk 60 61 45 63
Private 21 21 13 19
Public transport 16 16 13 18
Bicycle 1 1 0 0
Other 1 1 0 0
Total 100 100 72 100

Table 46 shows the overall percentage distribution within each

category of activity between minutes spent on travel related to
the activity, and minutes spent on the activity proper. Overall,
one-twentieth of the average respondent's day was spent in
travelling. The table shows the highest proportionate number of
minutes per day spent on travel for community service, work in
establishments, primary production not for establishments,
learning, and social and cultural activities. Conversely,
relatively few of the minutes per day allocated to personal care
and mass media use is spent in travelling.

78
Table 46: Distribution of average minutes spent on different
categories of activity between travel and non-travel time

Category Non-travel Travel Total

Work in establishments % 85 15 100
Primary production not for establishments % 86 14 100
Other production of goods & services not for establishments % 88 12 100
Household maintenance % 95 5 100
Care of persons in the household % 92 8 100
Community service to non-members % 80 20 100
Learning % 86 14 100
Social and cultural % 86 14 100
Mass media use % 100 0 100
Personal care % 100 0 100
Average % 95 5 100

Waiting
Waiting was explicitly reported as an activity by 625 people.
Waiting to access government services accounted for around 33%
of all the minutes spent waiting by respondents, and waiting for
medical and personal care for another 24%. The waiting codes for
both of these activities were explicitly listed in the coding
list and this might account for their being reported more often
than other waiting. Waiting for transport for work in
establishments accounted for 11% of all reported minutes spent
waiting, and waiting for travel related to social and cultural
activities to 8%. Women (348) were more likely than men (277) to
report waiting. Waiting was also reported disproportionately
often by people living in informal urban and commercial farming
areas.

79
Please turn this page
5Conclusion
The importance of time use data in explaining gender patterns in
a society has been widely recognised. Thus, for example, the
Beijing Platform for Action which emerged from the 1995 Fourth
United Nations World Conference on Women called for the
development of 'suitable statistical means to recognise and make
visible the full extent of the work of women and all their
contributions to the national economy, including their
contribution in the unremunerated and domestic sectors'. The
Platform also stressed the importance of developing 'a more
comprehensive knowledge of work and employment through efforts
to measure and better understand the type, extent and
distribution of unremunerated work, particularly in caring for
dependents' (UN Beijing Declaration, Platform for Action, 1995).

Statistics South Africa's time use survey of 2000 was intended

to contribute to government's fulfilment of its international
and constitutional commitment in respect of gender equality. A
survey clearly does not, in itself, constitute fulfilment of the
commitment and will not directly make a difference in the lives
of South African women and men. However, accurate data are an
important ingredient. They allow the country to measure the
extent of differences, and to monitor how these change over time
as a result of socio-economic changes and new policies. Time use
patterns probably change little from year to year. It is thus
not necessary to have an annual survey of this sort. However,
the experience in 2000 suggests that the diary could easily be
added to regular household surveys on a five- or ten-year basis
to monitor changes over time.

One of the objectives of the time use survey was to find out
more about paid and unpaid labour in South Africa. In virtually
all parts of the world, women are more likely to do the
'reproductive', usually unpaid, work in the economy. Men,
meanwhile, are more likely to be doing what is regarded as
'productive' work, producing goods and services exchanged in the
market. Further, where women are doing 'productive' work, they
are more likely than men to be producing intangibles – services
– while men are more likely to be producing tangible goods. Some
economists have observed that the bulk of the work that men do
is built into economic theory, while much of the work done by
women is invisible (see, for example, Elson 2000). The classic
flow of goods and services taught in economics classes has two
basic sectors - the private sector and the public (government)
sector. These two sectors produce and exchange goods and
services. Households are often missing from this picture. Or, if
they are there, they are seen simply as consumers.

81
Households produce something without which the rest of the
structure would not exist. Households produce the people who
make the other two sectors work, and for whom the other two
sectors exist. In order to produce these people, households
produce a wide range of goods and services. Many of these
services have their equivalents in the market economy. For
example, one can pay for a domestic worker to clean, for a cook
to prepare meals, for a nursemaid to look after a child.
However, the bulk of these caring services are provided on an
unpaid basis. And they are left out of economic models and out
of the reckoning of the GDP, which is meant to measure the
wealth and productivity of a country and which is generally used
to rate a country's progress.

The international guidelines for the SNA were revised in 1993

and were improved in many respects. However, household
activities still fall outside the calculation of national
accounts and are thus excluded from GDP. Thus the glossary to
the 1999 South African Budget Review defines GDP as 'a measure
of total national output, income and expenditure in the
economy.' However, it goes on to say that 'GDP per head is the
simplest overall measure of welfare, although it does not take
account of the distribution of income, nor of goods and services
that are produced outside the economy, such as work within the
household' (Department of Finance, 1999). The time use study
provides data which lay the basis for an elaboration of GDP
through parallel national accounts which start to take account
of the second aspect - goods produced 'outside the (paid)
economy'. Even without this elaboration of national accounts,
the time use survey provides useful indications of the
distribution of unpaid work.

In broad terms the South African survey found similar patterns

to those found in developed and other developing countries. In
particular, women were found to spend much more of their time on
unpaid, reproductive type work while men were more likely to be
engaged in paid work. The South African survey adds to these
broad generalisations with data that allow disaggregations such
as by settlement type, population group, age and employment
status.

The relatively small and stand-alone 2000 survey proved that a

time use survey is feasible in a developing country with
relatively high rates of illiteracy. Stats SA introduced a
number of innovations in its methodology of time use to cater
for the nature of the country and its population. Other

82
developing countries might find some of these innovations
useful.

This report has only revealed a small fraction of the type of

analysis that is possible with the 2000 data. Stats SA hopes
that other analysts will be inspired to use the data and uncover
more of the richness of what it can tell us.

83
Please turn this page
 References
Department of Finance. 1998. Budget Review. Pretoria.

Elson D. 2000. Progress of the World's Women. United Nations

Development Programme. New York.

Grieco M. 1995. 'Time pressures and low-income families: The

implications for 'social' transport policy in Europe', in
Community Development Journal 30, 4: 347-363.

Pollak RL. August 1999. 'Notes on time use' in Monthly Labor

Review, Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Department of Labor:
7-11.

85
Please turn this page
 Statistical appendix
This statistical appendix consists of three sections. The first
section provides a breakdown into the three SNA categories. The
second provides a breakdown into the ten broad categories of
activity. The third provides a breakdown by individual activity
code. The first two sections provide these breakdowns by
population group, sex, age group, highest educational level,
labour force status, stratum and province. The third section
provides the breakdown by sex.

For each of the SNA and 10-category breakdowns, three sets of

numbers are provided.
• The first table presents the number of respondents engaged in
a particular activity in each demographic subcategory;
• The second table presents the average time spent on each
category of activity by those respondents who engaged in the
activity concerned;
• The third table presents the average time spent on each
category of activity for all people in that demographic sub-
category, whether they performed the activity or not.

The third category of tabulations should sum to 1 440, as this

is the number of minutes in a 24-hour day. Percentages are
therefore not necessary, as comparisons across columns are
simple, merely using 1 440 as the total rather than 100. In
reality, the totals do not always sum exactly to 1 440 as a few
respondents did not have an activity recorded for every time
slot.

87
Mean time by SNA category
By population group

Number of respondents who engaged in a particular activity

SNA category African Coloured Indian White Total

SNA production 8 869 805 312 1 502 11 499
Non-SNA production 16 466 1 760 553 2 267 21 073
Non-productive 19 532 2 325 773 3 025 25 691

Mean minutes per day spent by respondents who engaged in a

particular activity

Whole
SNA category African Coloured Indian White population
SNA production 300 470 496 452 337
Non-SNA production 188 179 173 192 188
Non-productive 1 144 1 142 1 116 1 072 1 135

Mean minutes per day spent by all respondents

Whole
SNA category African Coloured Indian White population
SNA production 136 162 200 225 151
Non-SNA production 159 135 124 144 154
Non-productive 1 144 1 139 1 117 1 072 1 134
Total 1 439 1 437 1 440 1 440 1 439

88
By sex

Number of respondents who engaged in a particular activity

SNA category Male Female Tota l

SNA production 6 036 5 463 11 499
Non-SNA production 8 495 12 578 21 073
Non-productive 12 018 13 674 25 691

Mean minutes per day spent by respondents who engaged in a

particular activity

Whole
SNA category Male Female population
SNA production 380 290 337
Non-SNA production 117 235 188
Non-productive 1 166 1 107 1 135

Mean minutes per day spent by all respondents

Whole
SNA category Male Female population
SNA production 191 116 151
Non-SNA production 83 216 154
Non-productive 1 166 1 107 1 134
Total 1 439 1 439 1 439

89
By age

Number of respondents who engaged in a particular activity

60 years
SNA category 10-19 years 20-39 years 40-59 years plus Total
SNA production 2 520 5 391 2 836 747 11 499
Non-SNA production 6 565 8 737 3 962 1 808 21 073
Non-productive 8 336 10 192 4 795 2 361 25 691

Mean minutes per day spent by respondents who engaged in a

particular activity

60 years Whole
SNA category 10-19 years 20-39 years 40-59 years plus population
SNA production 127 395 427 286 337
Non-SNA production 120 220 217 211 188
Non-productive 1 307 1 042 1 006 1 187 1 135

Mean minutes per day spent by all respondents

60 years Whole
SNA category 10-19 years 20-39 years 40-59 years plus population
SNA production 38 209 252 91 151
Non-SNA production 95 189 179 162 154
Non-productive 1 306 1 042 1 006 1 187 1 134
Total 1 439 1 439 1 437 1 439 1 439

90
By highest educational level

Number of respondents who engaged in a particular activity

SNA category No formal Grade 1-6 Grade 7-11 Matric + Total

SNA production 1 016 3 329 4 183 2 924 11 499
Non-SNA production 1 713 5 899 8 970 4 415 21 073
Non-productive 2 118 7 528 10 563 5 379 25 691

Mean minutes per day spent by respondents who engaged in a

particular activity

Whole
SNA category No formal Grade 1-6 Grade 7-11 Matric + population
SNA production 307 243 335 458 337
Non-SNA production 216 154 199 200 188
Non-productive 1 116 1 211 1 139 1 026 1 135

Mean minutes per day spent by all respondents

Whole
SNA category No formal Grade 1-6 Grade 7-11 Matric + population
SNA production 147 107 132 249 151
Non-SNA production 175 120 169 164 154
Non-productive 1 116 1 210 1 139 1 026 1 134
Total 1 438 1 438 1 440 1 439 1 439

91
By employment status

Number of respondents who engaged in a particular activity

Not
economically
SNA category Employed Unemployed active Total
SNA production 7 573 587 3 340 11 499
Non-SNA production 8 923 1 671 10 480 21 073
Non-productive 11 120 1 873 12 699 25 691

Mean minutes per day spent by respondents who engaged in a

particular activity

Not
economically Whole
SNA category Employed Unemployed active population
SNA production 436 253 128 337
Non-SNA production 175 277 184 188
Non-productive 1 002 1 114 1 254 1 135

Mean minutes per day spent by all respondents

Not
economically Whole
SNA category Employed Unemployed active population
SNA production 297 79 34 151
Non-SNA production 140 247 152 154
Non-productive 1 001 1 113 1 254 1 134
Total 1 439 1 440 1 439 1 439

92
By settlement type

Number of respondents who engaged in a particular activity

Commercial
SNA category Formal urban Informal urban Ex-homeland farming Total
SNA production 4 728 959 4 862 950 11 499
Non-SNA production 9 950 1 978 7 882 1 263 21 073
Non-productive 12 507 2 300 9 329 1 556 25 691

Mean minutes per day spent by respondents who engaged in a

particular activity

Commercial Whole
SNA category Formal urban Informal urban Ex-homeland farming population
SNA production 440 379 219 386 337
Non-SNA production 178 204 196 187 188
Non-productive 1 132 1 106 1 158 1 053 1 135

Mean minutes per day spent by all respondents

Commercial Whole
SNA category Formal urban Informal urban Ex-homeland farming population
SNA production 166 158 114 234 151
Non-SNA production 141 175 166 151 154
Non-productive 1 132 1 106 1 158 1 048 1 134
Total 1 440 1 439 1 439 1 434 1 439

93
By province

Number of respondents who engaged in a particular activity

Western Eastern Northern Free KwaZulu- North Mpuma- Northern

SNA category Cape Cape Cape State Natal West Gauteng langa Province
SNA production 941 1 988 209 765 2 527 966 1 960 788 1 354
Non-SNA
production 1 994 3 172 437 1 448 4 510 1 889 3 846 1 444 2 333
Non-productive 2 600 3 833 535 1 711 5 321 2 164 4 838 1 719 2 971

Mean minutes per day spent by respondents who engaged in a

particular activity

Western Eastern Northern Free KwaZulu- North Mpuma- Northern

SNA category Cape Cape Cape State Natal West Gauteng langa Province
SNA production 473 257 430 331 315 294 459 309 263
Non-SNA
production 187 195 195 163 186 192 189 195 185
Non-productive 1 125 1 144 1 111 1 154 1 132 1 140 1 104 1 133 1 175

Mean minutes per day spent by all respondents

Western Eastern Northern Free KwaZulu- North Mpuma- Northern

SNA category Cape Cape Cape State Natal West Gauteng langa Province
SNA production 171 133 168 148 149 131 186 142 120
Non-SNA
production 144 162 160 138 157 168 150 164 145
Non-productive 1 125 1 144 1 113 1 154 1 132 1 140 1 102 1 132 1 175
Total 1 440 1 439 1 440 1 440 1 439 1 439 1 438 1 438 1 440

94
Mean time by broad activity category
By population group

Number of respondents who engaged in a particular activity

Category African Coloured Indian White Total

Work in establishments 3 885 701 298 1 301 6 189
Primary production 4 665 80 7 104 4 861
Work in non-establishment 1 033 97 16 222 1 371
Household maintenance 16 215 1 700 547 2 182 20 671
Care of persons 3 454 557 96 620 4 735
Community service 749 56 10 92 907
Learning 5 810 496 198 716 7 230
Social & cultural 16 798 2 092 650 2 664 22 232
Mass media use 12 501 1 930 713 2 722 17 897
Personal care 19 532 2 325 773 3 025 25 692

Mean minutes per day spent by respondents who engaged in a

particular activity

Whole
Category African Coloured Indian White population
Work in establishments 468 493 507 486 476
Primary production 127 87 110 123 126
Work in non-establishment 244 257 168 155 230
Household maintenance 164 148 152 166 162
Care of persons 104 94 122 99 103
Community service 115 208 66 120 121
Learning 370 354 396 286 361
Social & cultural 228 224 178 203 223
Mass media use 151 165 151 168 155
Personal care 741 727 725 674 731

95
Mean minutes per day spent by all respondents

Whole
Category African Coloured Indian White population
Work in establishments 93 148 195 209 115
Primary production 30 3 1 4 24
Work in non-establishment 13 11 3 11 12
Household maintenance 136 108 108 120 131
Care of persons 18 22 15 20 19
Community service 4 5 1 4 4
Learning 110 75 102 68 102
Social & cultural 196 201 150 179 193
Mass media use 97 137 140 151 108
Personal care 741 725 726 674 731
Total 1 439 1 436 1 440 1 440 1 439

By sex

Number of respondents who engaged in a particular activity

Category Male Female Total

Work in establishments 3 693 2 497 6 189
Primary production 2 273 2 588 4 861
Work in non-establishment 585 786 1 371
Household maintenance 8 247 12 424 20 671
Care of persons 705 4 030 4 735
Community service 446 461 907
Learning 3 539 3 691 7 230
Social & cultural 10 724 11 508 22 232
Mass media use 8 527 9 371 17 897
Personal care 12 019 13 673 25 692

96
Mean minutes per day spent by respondents who engaged in a
particular activity

Whole
Category Male Female population
Work in establishments 493 452 476
Primary production 138 115 126
Work in non-establishment 272 199 230
Household maintenance 107 199 162
Care of persons 63 110 103
Community service 145 98 121
Learning 369 354 361
Social & cultural 244 204 223
Mass media use 158 153 155
Personal care 728 734 731

Mean minutes per day spent by all respondents

Whole
Category Male Female population
Work in establishments 151 83 115
Primary production 26 22 24
Work in non-establishment 13 11 12
Household maintenance 74 181 131
Care of persons 4 32 19
Community service 5 3 4
Learning 109 96 102
Social & cultural 218 171 193
Mass media use 112 105 108
Personal care 727 734 731
Total 1 439 1 439 1 439

97
By age group

Number of respondents who engaged in a particular activity

60 years
Category 10-19 years 20-39 years 40-59 years plus Total
Work in establishments 305 3 652 2 010 218 6 189
Primary production 2 113 1 564 764 420 4 861
Work in non-establishment 204 621 385 162 1371
Household maintenance 6 508 8 549 3 877 1 736 20 671
Care of persons 658 2 824 933 320 4 735
Community service 261 364 167 115 907
Learning 5 805 1 188 209 28 7 230
Social & cultural 7 797 8 579 3 909 1 942 22 232
Mass media use 5 737 7 415 3 322 1 422 17 897
Personal care 8 336 10 193 4 795 2 361 25 692

Mean minutes per day spent by respondents who engaged in a

particular activity

60 years Whole
Category 10-19 years 20-39 years 40-59 years plus population
Work in establishments 246 486 497 445 476
Primary production 103 126 154 190 126
Work in non-establishment 140 253 242 230 230
Household maintenance 110 182 194 192 162
Care of persons 89 111 89 98 103
Community service 46 151 157 144 121
Learning 381 317 100 130 361
Social & cultural 234 218 200 250 223
Mass media use 146 159 152 183 155
Personal care 722 706 733 869 731

98
Mean minutes per day spent by all respondents

60 years Whole
Category 10-19 years 20-39 years 40-59 years plus population
Work in establishments 9 174 208 41 115
Primary production 26 19 25 34 24
Work in non-establishment 3 15 19 16 12
Household maintenance 86 152 157 141 131
Care of persons 7 31 17 13 19
Community service 1 5 5 7 4
Learning 265 37 4 2 102
Social & cultural 219 183 163 206 193
Mass media use 100 116 105 110 108
Personal care 722 706 732 869 731
Total 1 439 1 439 1 436 1 439 1 439

99
By highest educational level

Number of respondents who engaged in a particular activity

Category No formal Grade 1-6 Grade 7-11 Matric + Total

Work in establishments 388 1 016 2 272 2 483 6 189
Primary production 608 2 215 1 728 284 4 861
Work in non-establishment 119 364 543 345 1 371
Household maintenance 1 657 5 852 8 832 4 256 20 671
Care of persons 339 891 2 233 1 254 4 735
Community service 104 227 329 236 907
Learning 30 3 123 3 315 738 7 230
Social & cultural 1 748 6 830 9 040 4 515 22 232
Mass media use 880 4 435 7 841 4 670 17 897
Personal care 2 118 7 527 10 564 5 379 25 692

Mean minutes per day spent by respondents who engaged in a

particular activity

Whole
Category No formal Grade 1-6 Grade 7-11 Matric + population
Work in establishments 449 441 476 495 476
Primary production 178 127 109 111 126
Work in non-establishment 244 218 236 228 230
Household maintenance 192 138 171 168 162
Care of persons 117 95 105 100 103
Community service 127 72 105 190 121
Learning 292 364 384 253 361
Social & cultural 250 238 215 207 223
Mass media use 135 141 159 169 155
Personal care 850 761 717 671 731

100
Mean minutes per day spent by all respondents

Whole
Category No formal Grade 1-6 Grade 7-11 Matric + population
Work in establishments 82 59 102 229 115
Primary production 51 37 18 6 24
Work in non-establishment 14 11 12 15 12
Household maintenance 150 107 143 133 131
Care of persons 19 11 22 23 19
Community service 6 2 3 8 4
Learning 4 151 120 35 102
Social & cultural 206 216 184 174 193
Mass media use 56 83 118 146 108
Personal care 850 760 717 671 731
Total 1 438 1 437 1 440 1 439 1 439

101
By employment status

Number of respondents who engaged in a particular activity

Not
economically
Category Employed Unemployed active Total
Work in establishments 5 553 260 376 6 189
Primary production 1 770 316 2 775 4 861
Work in non-establishment 1 016 53 303 1 371
Household maintenance 8 650 1 652 10 369 20 671
Care of persons 2 141 542 2 052 4 735
Community service 393 70 444 907
Learning 1 335 94 5 801 7 230
Social & cultural 9 283 1 587 11 362 22 232
Mass media use 7 937 1 366 8 594 17 897
Personal care 11 120 1 873 12 699 25 692

Mean minutes per day spent by respondents who engaged in a

particular activity

Not
economically Whole
Category Employed Unemployed active population
Work in establishments 498 350 239 476
Primary production 151 154 106 126
Work in non-establishment 262 161 137 230
Household maintenance 151 235 161 162
Care of persons 90 117 112 103
Community service 163 161 78 121
Learning 285 241 381 361
Social & cultural 204 250 235 223
Mass media use 142 200 161 155
Personal care 695 743 761 731

102
Mean minutes per day spent by all respondents

Not
economically Whole
Category Employed Unemployed active population
Work in establishments 249 49 7 115
Primary production 24 26 23 24
Work in non-establishment 24 5 3 12
Household maintenance 117 207 131 131
Care of persons 17 34 18 19
Community service 6 6 3 4
Learning 34 12 174 102
Social & cultural 171 212 210 193
Mass media use 101 146 109 108
Personal care 695 743 761 731
Total 1 438 1 439 1 439 1 439

103
By settlement type

Number of respondents who engaged in a particular activity

Formal Informal Commercial

Category urban urban Ex-homeland farming Total
Work in establishments 3 944 608 1 002 635 6 189
Primary production 437 263 3 766 394 4 861
Work in non-establishment 655 161 491 64 1 371
Household maintenance 9 704 1 948 7 781 1 239 20 671
Care of persons 2 317 427 1 725 267 4 735
Community service 426 73 370 37 907
Learning 3 278 506 3 180 266 7 230
Social & cultural 10 755 1 900 8 240 1 337 22 232
Mass media use 10 455 1 494 5 005 943 17 897
Personal care 12 507 2 300 9 329 1 556 25 692

Mean minutes per day spent by respondents who engaged in a

particular activity

Formal Informal Commercial Whole

Category urban urban Ex-homeland farming population
Work in establishments 481 501 429 499 476
Primary production 85 79 137 98 126
Work in non-establishment 223 238 247 163 230
Household maintenance 153 177 170 166 162
Care of persons 96 115 108 104 103
Community service 129 141 111 98 121
Learning 344 357 378 376 361
Social & cultural 218 212 234 215 223
Mass media use 173 155 124 130 155
Personal care 710 751 756 724 731

104
Mean minutes per day spent by all respondents

Formal Informal Commercial Whole

Category urban urban Ex-homeland farming population
Work in establishments 152 132 46 203 115
Primary production 3 9 55 25 24
Work in non-establishment 12 17 13 7 12
Household maintenance 119 150 142 131 131
Care of persons 18 21 20 18 19
Community service 4 4 4 2 4
Learning 90 79 129 64 102
Social & cultural 187 175 207 184 193
Mass media use 145 100 67 79 108
Personal care 710 751 756 720 731
Total 1 440 1 439 1 438 1 433 1 439

105
By province

Number of respondents who engaged in a particular activity

Western Eastern Northern Free KwaZulu- North Mpuma- Northern

Category Cape Cape Cape State Natal West Gauteng langa Province
Work in establishments 810 674 161 499 1 121 503 1 630 368 423
Primary production 69 1 312 40 268 1324 443 157 356 892
Work in non-establishment 116 242 23 74 205 112 287 189 124
Household maintenance 1 932 3 122 421 1 420 4 462 1 872 3 743 1 427 2 272
Care of persons 546 724 130 322 785 448 986 303 493
Community service 100 98 23 62 245 78 137 80 83
Learning 564 1 241 129 450 1 467 581 1 143 533 1 123
Social & cultural 2 284 3 280 472 1 602 4 574 1 754 3 967 1 614 2 686
Mass media use 2 200 2 363 369 1 335 3 047 1 439 3 862 1 241 2 042
Personal care 2 600 3 833 535 1 711 5 321 2 164 4 838 1 719 2 971

Mean minutes per day spent by respondents who engaged in a

particular activity

Western Eastern Northern Free KwaZulu- North Mpuma- Northern

Category Cape Cape Cape State Natal West Gauteng langa Province
Work in establishments 504 399 504 440 509 449 503 445 452
Primary production 82 140 125 67 136 85 90 103 147
Work in non-establishment 267 242 161 208 219 187 228 227 266
Household maintenance 156 171 165 148 160 168 163 162 164
Care of persons 100 102 91 64 124 92 100 138 95
Community service 168 128 170 81 98 90 145 111 139
Learning 328 355 366 327 387 359 345 329 398
Social & cultural 227 227 215 252 206 240 203 260 224
Mass media use 166 149 159 154 146 155 181 145 126
Personal care 714 742 723 711 765 745 711 683 735

106
Mean minutes per day spent by all respondents

Western Eastern Northern Free KwaZulu- North Mpuma- Northern

Category Cape Cape Cape State Natal West Gauteng langa Province
Work in establishments 157 70 152 128 107 104 169 95 64
Primary production 2 48 9 10 34 17 3 21 44
Work in non-establishment 12 15 7 9 8 10 14 25 11
Household maintenance 116 139 130 123 135 145 126 134 126
Care of persons 21 19 22 12 18 19 20 24 16
Community service 6 3 7 3 5 3 4 5 4
Learning 71 115 88 86 107 96 81 102 150
Social & cultural 199 194 190 236 177 195 166 244 203
Mass media use 140 92 109 120 84 103 144 104 86
Personal care 714 742 723 711 765 745 710 682 734
Total 1 440 1 438 1 438 1 439 1 439 1 438 1 438 1 438 1 439

107
By detailed activity code

Number of respondents who engaged in a particular activity and

mean minutes per day spent by them on that activity

Male Female Whole population

Code Respondents Minutes Respondents Minutes Respondents Minutes
111 Wage & salary employment 2 818 455 1 760 417 4 578 440
112 Home-based work for establishment 104 66 71 67 175 66
113 Paid domestic work 55 297 353 357 408 349
114 Unpaid employment in establishment 45 395 32 134 77 287
115 Work as employer/self-employed 200 403 110 271 309 356
118 Waiting for establishment work 3 17 25 47 27 44
130 Work in apprenticeship 66 133 17 139 83 134
140 Short break from work 1 223 32 898 34 2 121 33
148 Waiting for short break from work 2 15 3 15 5 15
150 Seeking employment 353 241 101 166 454 224
158 Waiting to seek employment 6 187 19 95 25 116
180 Travel related to work in establishment 3 319 83 2 173 79 5 492 81
188 Waiting for establishment work travel 146 31 122 25 268 28
190 Employment in establishment n.e.c. 5 272 16 135 21 166
210 Crop farming 339 145 392 181 731 164
220 Tending animals & fish farming 979 118 151 67 1 130 111
228 Waiting to tend animals 1 15 1 15
230 Hunting & gathering wild products 46 164 37 72 83 123
236 Collecting fuel 296 109 621 113 917 112
240 Digging, stone cutting & carving 80 128 23 115 103 125
250 Collecting water 806 46 1 750 62 2 556 57
258 Waiting to collect water 2 10 1 10 3 10
260 Purchase & sale primary production 31 167 24 150 55 160
280 Travel related to primary production 813 66 523 58 1 335 63
288 Waiting for primary production travel 1 23 0 30 1 25
290 Primary production n.e.c. 20 63 5 71 26 65
310 Food processing & preservation 6 127 36 108 42 111
320 Preparing & selling food & beverage 36 267 137 169 174 189
330 Making & selling textiles & craft 41 339 288 143 329 167
340 Building & extension of dwelling 102 338 49 204 150 295
350 Petty trading & door-to-door 140 231 218 238 358 235
360 Fitting, maintaining tools & machinery 106 195 3 89 109 192
370 Provision of services for income 68 278 38 140 105 229
380 Travel related to non-establishment production 235 83 225 76 460 80
388 Waiting for non-establishment travel 1 7 5 31 6 29
390 Non-establishment production n.e.c. 37 234 22 112 59 188
410 Preparing food & drink 4 139 55 10 621 108 14 760 93
420 Cleaning & upkeep of dwelling 4 142 69 8 674 75 12 815 73

108
 Male Female Whole population
Code Respondents Minutes Respondents Minutes Respondents Minutes
430 Care of textiles 1 491 52 4 280 83 5 770 75
440 Shopping for personal & household goods 1 301 53 1 543 59 2 844 57
441 Accessing government services 41 35 62 35 102 35
448 Waiting to access government services 53 158 87 154 141 156
450 Household management 127 45 113 37 240 41
458 Waiting for household management 0 10 0 10
460 D-I-Y home improvements 481 110 82 134 563 114
470 Pet care 220 32 175 35 395 33
480 Travel related to household maintenance 1 523 50 1 869 51 3 392 50
488 Waiting for household travel 20 30 26 38 46 34
490 Household maintenance n.e.c. 127 78 78 39 204 63
491 Chopping wood not for cooking 2 483 25 3 770 24 6 253 25
498 Waiting for household maintenance n.e.c. 1 87 3 19 5 41
510 Physical care of children 0 15 14 15 14 15
511 Physical care of children: spontaneous 273 55 3 334 94 3 606 91
512 Physical care of children: prompted 82 37 272 41 355 40
518 Waiting for physical care of children 3 7 3 7
521 Teaching of household children: spontaneous 87 49 341 63 428 60
522 Teaching of household children: prompted 9 49 18 51 27 50
531 Accompanying children: spontaneous 58 34 183 42 242 40
532 Accompanying children: prompted 9 23 23 25 32 25
538 Waiting to accompany children 15 72 15 72
540 Physical care of non-child household members 6 120 128 74 134 76
550 Accompanying adults 11 118 16 159 27 143
558 Waiting to accompany adults 2 10 2 10
561 Supervising those needing care: spontaneous 89 56 429 77 518 73
562 Supervising those needing care: prompted 22 40 67 65 89 59
580 Travel related to care 188 53 512 55 700 54
588 Waiting for travel related to care 19 29 15 28 34 29
590 Care of household members n.e.c. 18 40 96 70 114 66
610 Community organised construction 7 178 7 41 14 112
620 Community organised work 31 66 45 127 2 11
630 Organisational volunteering 24 89 20 47 44 70
650 Participation in meetings 145 152 117 136 262 145
660 Involvement in civic responsibilities 15 285 3 210 18 271
671 Caring for non-household children:
spontaneous 2 79 75 79 77 79
672 Caring for non-household children: prompted 19 29 8 60 27 38
673 Caring for non-household adults 7 58 23 29 30 36
674 Other informal help to other households 123 130 32 104 156 124
680 Travel related to community services 198 65 140 59 338 63
688 Waiting for community service travel 4 72 1 90 6 76
690 Community services n.e.c. 18 53 21 38 39 45

109
 Male Female Whole population
Code Respondents Minutes Respondents Minutes Respondents Minutes
710 School, technikon, college, university
attendance 2 919 300 2 943 297 5 862 298
720 Homework 2 041 110 2 234 99 4 275 104
730 Additional study, non-formal education 137 106 121 90 258 98
740 Work-related training 52 58 37 120 89 84
780 Travel related to learning 3 050 60 3 165 60 6 215 60
788 Wating for learning travel 43 27 58 30 100 29
790 Learning n.e.c. 59 59 59 77 118 68
810 Participating in cultural activities 230 214 278 195 507 203
820 Participating in religious activities 1 686 88 2 357 98 4 043 94
830 Socialising 28 18 31 14 59 16
831 Socialising with family 6 737 93 8 327 108 15 065 101
832 Socialising with non-family 7 097 114 6 110 88 13 207 102
833 Socialising with both family & non-family 310 85 379 84 689 84
838 Waiting for socialising 19 20 21 41 40 31
840 Arts, music, hobbies 180 67 157 102 337 83
850 Indoor & outdoor sports participation 1 905 111 497 88 2 401 106
858 Waiting for sports 0 15 0 15
860 Games & other pastimes 2 324 121 1 937 115 4 260 118
870 Spectator to sports, exhibitions, concerts 299 124 112 115 411 122
880 Travel related to social & cultural 5 660 71 4 479 65 10 139 69
888 Waiting for social & cultural travel 79 30 70 46 149 38
890 Social, cultural, recreational n.e.c. 51 93 30 64 81 82
910 Reading 1 191 65 1 094 78 2 285 71
920 Watching TV & video 6 566 141 7 255 136 13 821 138
930 Listening to music or radio 3 768 88 4 111 86 7 880 86
940 Accessing information by computer 89 100 56 69 145 88
950 Visiting library 38 53 59 31 98 40
980 Travel related to mass media use 103 42 57 45 160 43
990 Mass media use & entertainment n.e.c. 4 48 22 56 26 54
010 Sleep & related activities 12 015 563 13 670 577 25 685 570
020 Eating & drinking 11 887 72 13 495 65 25 382 68
030 Personal hygiene & health 11 461 52 12 855 50 24 315 51
038 Waiting for personal hygiene & health 2 30 2 30
041 Receiving medical/personal care from
professionals 99 74 177 58 276 63
042 Receiving medical/personal care from
household members 42 54 61 46 103 49
043 Receiving medical/personal care from non-
household non-professional 2 38 14 66 16 62
048 Waiting for medical/personal care 63 79 106 100 168 92
050 Doing nothing, rest & relaxation 4 548 97 5 414 100 9 961 99
060 Individual religious practice 384 50 644 35 1 027 40
080 Travel related to personal care 614 49 473 54 1 087 51
088 Waiting for personal care travel 1 13 32 30 33 29
090 Personal care & self-maintenance n.e.c. 694 41 216 32 911 39

110
 Technical appendix
Sample design
Frame and frame procedures

The time use study sample frame was based on the frame prepared
for the 1999 Survey of activities of young people (SAYP). This
sample frame was based on the 1996 Population Census enumerator
areas (EAs) and the number of households counted in the 1996
Population Census. The sampled population excluded all prisoners
in prison, patients in hospital, people residing in boarding
houses and hotels (whether temporary or semi-permanent),
boarding schools and other institutions.

The 16 EA types from the 1996 Population Census were condensed

into four area types, or strata. The four strata were formal
urban, informal urban, commercial farming areas and other rural
areas (referred to as 'ex-homeland' in this report). Institution
type EAs were excluded from the sample.

Sampling procedure

The EAs were explicitly stratified by province, and within a

province by the four strata. The sample size (10 800 dwelling
units, with 3 600 units in each of the three tranches) was
disproportionately allocated to the explicit strata using the
square root method. Within the strata, the EAs were ordered by
magisterial district and the EA-types included in the area type
(implicit stratification).

Primary sampling units (PSUs) consisted of at least 100 dwelling

units. Where an EA contained 100 or more dwelling units, this became
a PSU. Where an EA contained less than 100 dwelling units, EAs were
pooled (using Kish's method of pooling) to meet this requirement.
Most EAs had fewer than 100 dwelling units and therefore had to be
pooled.

For the SAYP, the sample was adjusted to allow for a suspected
greater likelihood of working children in informal urban and
commercial farming areas. These strata were therefore
oversampled. This oversampling was replicated in the time use
survey. The final allocation per stratum and province was as
shown in the table below. In practice, 896 of the 902 allocated
PSUs were visited.

111
Number of PSUs per province and stratum

Informal Commercial
Province Formal urban urban Ex-homeland farming Total
Western Cape 59 25 0 20 104
Eastern Cape 39 21 30 20 110
Northern Cape 23 10 6 20 59
Free State 35 20 12 20 87
KwaZulu-Natal 50 26 26 20 122
North West 28 20 18 20 86
Gauteng 91 45 0 20 156
Mpumalanga 25 20 18 21 84
Northern Province 22 20 32 20 94
Total 372 207 142 181 902

The dwelling unit was taken as the ultimate sampling unit (USU).

Firstly, a three-stage sampling procedure was applied. The

allocated number of PSUs was systematically selected with
probability proportional to size in each explicit stratum (with
the measure of size being the number of households in a PSU). In
each PSU, a systematic sample of 12 dwelling units was drawn. In
the case of multiple households at one dwelling unit, all
households were enumerated. From each enumerated household, one
or two persons were randomly selected for interview depending on
the number of eligible persons. Every member of the household
ten years or older was eligible for selection.

Weighting

The sample was based on the 1996 Population Census enumerator

areas and the estimated number of households from the 1996
Population Census.

The initial household weight, based on the sample design, was

equal to the inverse of the probability of selection.

That is:

Household weight = 1/p1*p2

where:

(Census number of households in PSU)*(number of PSUs per stratum)

p1 =
Census total number of households per stratum

Sample size (that is 12 dwelling units per PSU)

p2 =
Number of dwelling units in the PSU

112
The initial weight for each member of the household was the same
as the weight for the household itself. Further adjustment
factors were then calculated within PSUs to account for
non-response.

The initial weight for eligible persons was:

1/p1*p2*p3

where:
2(sampled persons)
p3 =
number of eligible persons in the household

Further adjustment factors were then calculated to account for

non-response.

To adjust for under-enumeration and to align survey estimates

with independent population estimates, the weights were
calibrated against person benchmarks. A software package called
CALMAR was used to perform this calibration. Using an iterative
procedure, CALMAR adjusted the weights so that person estimates
conformed as closely as possible with external person
benchmarks.

113
Please turn this page
 Activity classification system
1. Employment for establishments
Time used for:
111 Wage and salary employment other than domestic work
112 Outworkers/home-based work for an establishment
113 Domestic and personal services produced by domestic work
114 Unpaid employment in establishment
115 Work as employer/self-employed for an establishment
130 Working in apprenticeship, internship and related positions
140 Short breaks and interruptions from work
150 Seeking employment and related activities
180 Travel to/from work and seeking employment in establishments
190 Employment in establishments not elsewhere classified

2. Primary production activities not for establishments

Time used for:
210 Crop farming and market/kitchen gardening: planting,
weeding, harvesting, picking, etc.
220 Tending animals and fish farming
230 Hunting, fishing, gathering of wild products and forestry
236 Collecting fuel, firewood or dung
240 Digging, stone cutting, splitting and carving
250 Collecting water
260 Purchase of goods for and sale of outputs arising from these
activities
280 Travel related to primary production activities (not for
establishments)
290 Primary production activities (not for establishments) not
elsewhere classified

3. Services for income and other production of goods not for

1
establishments
Time used for:
310 Food processing and preservation activities: grain
processing, butchering, preserving, curing
320 Preparing and selling food and beverage preparation, baking,
confectionery and related activities
330 Making and selling textile, leather and related craft:
weaving, knitting, sewing, shoemaking, tanning, products of
wood
340 Building and extensions of dwelling: laying bricks,
plastering, thatch, roofing, maintaining and repairing
buildings; cutting glass, plumbing, painting, carpentering,
electric wiring

1
In each activity buying of inputs and selling the products are included, and
may be disaggregated at the third digit level.
115
350 Petty trading, street/door-to-door vending, shoe-cleaning
and other services performed in non-fixed or mobile
locations
360 Fitting, installing, tool setting, maintaining and repairing
tools and machinery
370 Provision of services for income such as computer services,
transport, hairdressing, cosmetic treatment, baby-sitting,
massages, prostitution
380 Travel related to services for income and other production
of goods (not for establishments)
390 Services for income and other production of goods (not for
establishments) not elsewhere classified

4. Household maintenance, management and shopping for own

household
Time used for:
410 Cooking, making drinks, setting and serving tables, washing
up
420 Cleaning and upkeep of dwelling and surroundings
430 Care of textiles: sorting, mending, washing, ironing and
ordering clothes and linen
440 Shopping for personal and household goods
441 Accessing government service, such as collecting pension,
going to post office
448 Waiting to access government service
450 Household management: planning, supervising, paying bills,
etc.
460 Do-it-yourself home improvements and maintenance,
installation, servicing and repair of personal and household
goods
470 Pet care
480 Travel related to household maintenance, management and
shopping
490 Household maintenance, management and shopping not elsewhere
classified
491 Chopping wood, lighting fire and heating water not for
immediate cooking purposes

5. Care for children, the sick, elderly and disabled for own
household
Time used for:
511 Physical care of children: washing, dressing, feeding
mentioned spontaneously
512 Physical care of children: washing, dressing, feeding not
mentioned spontaneously
521 Teaching, training and instruction of household's children
mentioned spontaneously

116
522 Teaching, training and instruction of household's children
not mentioned spontaneously
531 Accompanying children to places: school, sports, lessons,
etc. mentioned spontaneously
532 Accompanying children to places: school, sports, lessons,
etc. not mentioned spontaneously
540 Physical care of the sick, disabled, elderly household
members: washing, dressing, feeding, helping
550 Accompanying adults to receive personal care services: such
as hairdresser's, therapy sessions, etc.
561 Supervising children and adults needing care mentioned
spontaneously
562 Supervising children and adults needing care not mentioned
spontaneously
580 Travel related to care of children, the sick, elderly and
disabled in the household
590 Care of children, the sick, elderly and disabled in the
household not elsewhere classified

6. Community services and help to other households

Time used for:
610 Community organised construction and repairs: buildings,
roads, dams, wells, etc.
615 Cleaning of classrooms
620 Community organised work: cooking for collective
celebrations, etc.
630 Volunteering with or for an organisation
650 Participation in meetings of local and informal
groups/caste, tribes, professional associations, union,
political and similar organisations
660 Involvement in civic and related responsibilities: voting,
rallies, etc.
671 Caring for non-household children mentioned spontaneously
672 Caring for non-household children not mentioned
spontaneously
673 Caring for non-household adults
674 Other informal help to other households
680 Travel related to community services
690 Community services not elsewhere classified

7. Learning
Time used for:
710 School, technikon, college or university attendance
720 Homework, studies and course review
730 Additional study, non-formal education and courses during
free time
740 Work-related training

117
780 Travel related to learning
790 Learning not elsewhere classified

8. Social and Cultural Activities

Time used for:
810 Participating in cultural activities, weddings, funerals,
births, and other celebrations
820 Participating in religious activities: religious services,
practices, rehearsals, etc.
831 Socialising with family
832 Socialising with non-family
833 Socialising with both family and non-family
840 Arts, making music, hobbies and related courses
850 Indoor and outdoor sports participation and related courses
860 Games and other pastime activities
870 Spectator to sports, exhibitions/museums,
cinema/theatre/concerts and other performances and events
880 Travel related to social, cultural and recreational
activities
890 Social, cultural and recreational activities not elsewhere
classified

9. Mass media use

Time used for:
910 Reading
920 Watching television and video
930 Listening to music/radio
940 Accessing information by computer
950 Visiting library
980 Travel related to mass media use and entertainment
990 Mass media use and entertainment not elsewhere classified

0. Personal care and self-maintenance

Time used for:
010 Sleep and related activities
020 Eating and drinking
030 Personal hygiene and health
041 Receiving medical and personal care from professionals
(including traditional healer)
042 Receiving medical and personal care from household members
043 Receiving medical and personal care from non-household non-
professionals
048 Waiting for medical and personal care
050 Doing nothing, rest and relaxation
060 Individual religious practices and meditation
080 Travel related to personal care and self-maintenance
090 Personal care and self-maintenance not elsewhere classified

118