1. Who are Kiwis spending their time with?
How the ‘who with’ data was collected
For each activity recorded in their diary, respondents were asked who they were with at
that time. The following instructions were given in the diary:
Classification for who people spend their time with
The response options in the diary were:
• Alone
• Family I live with (refers to family within their own household)
• Family I don’t live with (refers to family outside their household)
• Other people I know (includes non-family members who they live with, and
people from outside the household such as work colleagues)
• People I don’t know.
Why collect data on who people are spending their time with?
Collecting data on who New Zealanders spent their time with provides a rich source
of information on the nature and frequency of social contact for people in different
circumstances.
It also helps to understand social connectedness – the networks of contacts people
have with others in their family, community, and workplace.
Time-use data can be used to examine the amount of contact people have with friends
and family members. Informal interaction is important for building and sustaining social
networks and provides a measure of social capital.
Measuring time spent with unknown people through formal interaction is also a valuable
contributor to evaluating social well-being.
NOTE: Time is averaged over all diary days, including days on which the person did not
participate in the activity.
As individuals may be with different groups of people at the same time, the estimates
are not additive. For example, a respondent could be with family and friends at the
same time.
Findings from the 2009/10 Time Use Survey
The 2009/10 New Zealand Time Use Survey provides information on how Kiwis aged 12 years and over spend
their time. Information was collected from 9,159 respondents by asking them to fill in a two-day time-use diary.
Results
Sex, labour force status, family role, and life stage all affect the amount of time New
Zealanders spent alone and with others.
Kiwis spend most of their time with people they know
On an average day, New Zealanders spent most of their time with people they know:
• 13 hours and 26 minutes with family in their own household
• 5 hours and 24 minutes with other known people
• 1 hour and 23 minutes with family outside their own household.
Females spent more time with family in their own household and family outside the
household than males. This can be attributed to the longer time males spent on labour force
activities.
The employed spend less time alone than the unemployed
Unemployed people and people not in the labour force spent more time alone than the
employed.
Part-time employed males spent more time alone than part-time employed females, and less
time with family in their own household.
The employed spent more time with unknown people – full-time employed people spent 1
hour and 50 minutes, and those employed part time spent 2 hours with unknown people.
Who else was with you?
• Use an arrow to show how long you were alone or with other people.
• To be with someone means that you are in the same place – for example, in the same house or
shop, or on the same bus. You don’t have to be doing the same thing together.
• You may fill in more than one category for the same time.
Average time spent alone and with others per day
By labour force status, 2009/10
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Unknown
people
Other known
people
Other family
Family from
household
Alone
Hours
Who with
Average time spent alone and with other per day
By labour force status, 2009/10
Employed full-time
Employed part-time
Unemployed
Not in the labour force
Time spent with non-family members falls with increasing age
The time spent with non-family members fell with increasing age. New Zealanders at the older
life stage spent the most time alone, at 9 hours and 18 minutes a day, while young people
aged 12–24 spent only 4 hours and 6 minutes alone a day.
People aged 65 and over who were living alone spent the least amount of time with unknown
people (44 minutes a day), and the most time alone (20 hours a day).
Older women spent nearly 4 hours more time alone than older men on an average day.
This is probably due to women living longer than men.
Young females spent more time with family in their household and other family outside their
household than young males did.
Coupled parents with young children
spend the least time alone
Parents in a couple who had children aged under 15 years spent the least time alone (1 hour
and 52 minutes a day) compared with other selected child and family roles.
Male parents in a couple with children aged under 15 spent 57 more minutes alone, and 3
hours and 53 minutes less with family in their household, than females in the same family role.
The trend is similar for male sole parents with young children. They spent 4 hours and 18
minutes less with family in their own household than female sole parents did.
Daughters aged 12–17 years who lived with their parents spent 1 hour and 29 minutes a day
more with family in their household than sons of the same age.
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Unknown
people
Other known
people
Other family
Family from
household
Alone
Hours
Who with
Average time spent alone and with others per day
By life stage, 2009/10
Young people (12–24
years)
Prime working-age
people (25–44 years)
Middle-aged people
(45–64 years)
Older people (65+)
Average time spent alone and with others per day
By life stage, 2009/10
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Unknown
people
Other known
people
Other family
Family from
household
Alone
Hours
Who with
Average time spent alone and with others per day
By selected parent and child family roles, 2009/10
Female parent in couple
with young children
Male parent in couple
with young children
Female sole parent with
young children
Male sole parent with
young children
Female child aged 12–17
living with parent(s)
Male child aged 12–17
living with parent(s)
Note: A young child is aged under 15 years. A child is someone usually residing with at least
one parent and with no partner or child(ren) of their own in the same household.
Average time spent alone and with others per day
By selected parent and child family roles, 2009/10
For further information please contact:
info@stats.govt.nz
or visit our web pages at:
www.stats.govt.nz
Average time spent alone and with others per day
By sex (aged 12+) 2009/10
Male
Female
5 hrs 59 mins
5 hrs 14 mins
1 hr 33 mins
1 hr 11 mins
12 hrs 49 mins
5 hrs 16 mins
4 hrs 51 mins
1 hr 37 mins
1 hr 34 mins
14 hrs 01 mins
4 hrs 51 mins
5 hrs 24 mins
5 hrs 15 mins
1 hr 35 mins
1 hr 23 mins
13 hrs 26 mins
All people
Family in own household
Other known people
Alone
Unknown people
Other family
(outside household)
Key