A New Perspective from Time Use Research on the Effects of Lockdown on COVID-19 Behavioral Infection Risk

We present findings from the first two waves of an innovative, population-representative, UK time-use diary survey conducted both pre- and mid-lockdown, using an online diary instrument that proved both reliable and quick-to-field. Combining diary information on activity, location, and co-presence to estimate infection risks associated with daily behavior, we show clear changes in such behavior related to infection risk between the pre- and mid-lockdown periods: a substantial reduction of time spent in those behaviors with the highest levels of risk, accompanied by an equivalent increase in low-risk behavior. Because, in general, a populations' time use changes relatively slowly, the behavioral changes revealed may be interpreted directly as a consequence of the UK COVID-19 'lockdown' regulations. Subsequent waves will reveal the behavioral consequences of future changes in regulation

Sleep differences in the UK between 1974 and 2015: insights from detailed time diaries

It is often stated that sleep deprivation is on the rise, with work suggested as a main cause. However, the evidence for increasing sleep deprivation comes from surveys using habitual sleep questions. An alternative source of information regarding sleep behaviour is time-use studies. This paper investigates changes in sleep time in the UK using the two British time-use studies that allow measuring "time in bed not asleep" separately from "actual sleep time". Based upon the studies presented here, people in the UK sleep today 43 min more than they did in the 1970s because they go to bed earlier (~30 min) and they wake up later (~15 min). The change in sleep duration is driven by night sleep and it is homogeneously distributed across the week. The former results apply to men and women alike, and to individuals of all ages and employment status, including employed individuals, the presumed major victims of the sleep deprivation epidemic and the 24/7 society. In fact, employed individuals have experienced a reduction in short sleeping of almost 4 percentage points, from 14.9% to 11.0%. There has also been a reduction of 15 percentage points in the amount of conflict between workers work time and their sleep time, as measured by the proportion of workers that do some work within their "ideal sleep window" (as defined by their own chronotype)

Centre for Time Use Research UK Time Use Survey 6-Wave Sequence across the COVID-19 Pandemic, 2016-2021

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.In 2016 the Centre for Time Use Research developed an online Click and Drag Diary Instrument (CaDDI), collecting population-representative (quota sample) time use diary data from Dynata’s large international market research panel across 9 countries. We fielded the same instrument using the UK panel across the COVID-19 pandemic: in May-June 2020 during the first lockdown; in late August 2020 following the relaxation of social restrictions; in November 2020 during the second lockdown; in January 2021 during the third lockdown; and in August/September 2021 after the lifting of restrictions.Each survey wave collected between 1-3 time use diaries per respondent, recording activities, location, co-presence, device use, and enjoyment across continuous 10-minute episodes throughout the diary day.&nbsp; The accompanying individual screening questionnaire included information on the standard socio-demographic variables, and a diary day questionnaire containing additional health and diary day related questions was added during wave 2. Overall, 6896 diaries were collected across the 6 waves, allowing analysis of behavioural change between a baseline (in 2016), three national lockdowns, and two intervening periods of the relaxation of social restrictions.The deposited data forms part of wider CTUR projects of ESRC-funded time use research - New Frontiers for Time Use Research, and Time Use Research for National Statistics. Information on time spent in the various activities of daily life provides a comprehensive and exhaustive basis for summarising the activities of a society, yet people in general do not know with any accuracy how much time they devote to their daily activities. For this reason, rather than asking a set of survey questions, such as "how much time did you spend last week in X activity", the time use diary instead asks people to record, in sequence, all their activities through the 24-hour day, with their start and end times. Further information both on these projects and the COVID-19 sequence data collection can be found on the CTUR website.Latest edition informationFor the fourth edition (May 2022), the data and documentation files were replaced with updated versions. Amendments include the replacement of questionnaires with final versions; changes to variable ordering in the questionnaires, dataset and codebook; and updated information on the GHQ questions. See the Summary of Changes document for further details.Main Topics: Time use diary data during UK social restrictions Behaviour-related COVID19 infection risks Online time use diary instrument (CaDDI)</ol