1 Executive summary

This report analyses the Scottish component of the 2020 Online Time Use Survey (OTUS) with a focus on equality groups. The Scottish sample was made up of 581 respondents, the majority of whom completed two diaries, one on a weekday and one on a weekend totalling 1,100 diary days. Data was weighted in order to correct for differences in sample size between groups, and to ensure they reflect the profile of the Scottish population.

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

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

For a more detailed discussion of the activities that fall within each of these four categories please see the glossary to this report.

1.1 Paid work

Key findings for paid work include:

those with higher household income spent more time in paid work compared to households with lower income
men spent longer in paid work compared to women
respondents aged 65+ spent less time in paid work
non-disabled respondents spent more time in paid work than disabled respondents

1.2 Unpaid work

Key findings for unpaid work include:

respondents aged 65+ spent more time on unpaid work, particularly housework/cooking and other unpaid work, which includes activities such as DIY and gardening
respondents aged 25 to 44 spent more time on both developmental and non-developmental childcare than all other age groups
disabled respondents spent more time than non-disabled respondents on housework/cooking
those with higher household income spent more time on developmental childcare but less time on housework/cooking compared to those with lower income
women spent more time in unpaid work compared to men, which was particularly the case for housework/cooking
of the proportion of the sample who did unpaid work ‘Christian’ respondents spent longer on housework/cooking, but less time on non-developmental childcare, compared to those with no religion
‘White’ respondents spent more time on travel and other unpaid work, including DIY and gardening, compared to ‘Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British’ respondents

1.3 Free time

Key findings for free time include:

those with lower household income spent more time on free time activities
respondents aged 65+ spent more time on both leisure/social activities and other leisure activities , e.g. reading books, watching TV, spending time online, playing games, etc
disabled respondents spent more time on free time activities than non-disabled respondents, in particular other leisure activities
women spent longer in leisure/social activities, while men spent longer on other leisure activities
LGB+ respondents also spent longer on other leisure activities, compared to heterosexual or straight respondents

1.4 Personal care

Key findings for personal care include:

respondents aged 45 to 64 spent less time sleeping than other age group
non-disabled respondents spent more time on personal fitness compared to disabled respondents
‘White’ respondents spent more time than ‘Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British’ respondents on personal fitness and other personal care, which includes activities such as drinking (e.g. tea, coffee, alcohol), eating/eating out/having a takeaway, snacking, showering and getting ready, and using the bathroom