Abstract
We use the American Time Use Survey to examine the extent to which adults with disabilities—defined using both the new six-question sequence on disability and the traditional work-limitation question—spend more time on health-related activities and less time on other activities than those without disabilities. We find that men and women who both reported a work limitation and responded “yes” to any of the questions in the six-question disability sequence spend approximately 40 to 50 more minutes per week, respectively, on health-related activities. We also find that most working-age men and women who report a disability work fewer hours per day than men and women without disabilities. The largest difference is for men and women who report both types of disability; these individuals spend, on average, 5 fewer hours per day in paid work than men and women without disabilities. On average, most of the decrease in paid work time is offset by more time spent on leisure activities (defined as activities that provide direct utility, such as entertainment, social activities, attending recreational events, and general relaxation) and sleeping, which is likely due to these being default activities for individuals whose medical issues and environment constrain them from participating in other activities.
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Notes
The six-question disability sequence as it appears in the CPS is as follows: (1) Is anyone deaf or does anyone have serious difficulty hearing? (2) Is anyone blind or does anyone have serious difficulty seeing even when wearing glasses? (3) Because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition, does anyone have serious difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions? (4) Does anyone have serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs? (5) Does anyone have difficulty dressing or bathing? (6) Because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition, does anyone have difficulty doing errands alone such as visiting a doctor’s office or shopping? (Bureau of Labor Statistics 2012b).
The ACS six-question disability sequence was first added to the CPS-BMS in June 2008; the CPS-ASEC administered in March 2009 is, therefore, the first to include individuals for which responses to the six-question disability sequence are available.
The CPS follows each housing unit for 16 months. A housing unit is in the sample for four consecutive months, then leaves the sample for eight months, and then returns for another four consecutive months (Bureau of Labor Statistics 2003).
Houtenville and Brucker (2014) also used a disability definition that combines the ACS six-question sequence and the work-limitation question; they reported that 11.8 % of individuals ages 25 to 61 have disability according to 2009 CPS-ASEC data. This is slightly higher than our 11.0 % estimate for 2009, which is limited to the subsample that also responded to the ATUS.
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Acknowledgments
The authors appreciate the assistance of Kai Filion and Adele Costigan for programming support, and David Stapleton for helpful comments on the analysis. This study was supported by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, U.S. Department of Education, through its Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Disability Statistics and Demographics grant to Hunter College, CUNY (Grant No. H133B080012-09A).
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Anand, P., Ben-Shalom, Y. How Do Working-Age People With Disabilities Spend Their Time? New Evidence From the American Time Use Survey. Demography 51, 1977–1998 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-014-0336-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-014-0336-3