A Critical Review of Selected Time Use Surveys

This paper was prepared as part of the preparatory phase for the UNRISD research project on Political and Social Economy of Care. The overall aim of the project is to examine the way in which care is provided and allocated between the family/household, state, market and “community”, and its articulation with the commodity economy in different countries. The main purpose of this paper is, therefore, to critically review selected time use surveys conducted in countries from different regions of the world, in order to assess their quality. An additional purpose is to inform the design of the qualitative research to be undertaken by the project.The paper presents the results of a desk-based study, as well as limited interaction with people knowledgeable about the surveys undertaken in countries included in the study: Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Nicaragua (in Latin America); Bangladesh, India and the Republic of Korea (in Asia); and Chad, Mali, Tanzania and South Africa (in sub-Saharan Africa).