Does Living Alone Mean Spending Time Differently? Time Use and Living Arrangements Among Older Canadians

Abstract

Living alone is very common among older Canadians, where 25.8% of adults 65 and above lived alone in 2016. The rise of living alone around the world has prompted debate about whether solo living has negative implications for older adults’ well-being, health, and social integration. We contribute to this debate by examining whether older adults living alone have different patterns of time use and subjective evaluations of their time. Using the Canadian General Social Survey (2015), we find that older adults living on their own do not seem to be socially isolated in our objective or subjective measures of time use. Those living alone spend more time communicating with others than older adults in other living arrangements and spend comparable amounts of time eating/drinking to most other groups. Older adults living alone had similar time on self-care to most other groups, and much less time on caregiving for others than those in all other living arrangements, and significantly less time on housework than those living with just a spouse. We find few differences in time spent on leisure by living arrangements. In terms of subjective time use, older adults living alone are no more likely than those living with others to feel like they do not spend enough time with family or friends. In addition, older adults living alone were much less likely than other groups to feel pressed for time, feel rushed, or feel stressed out about not having enough time.

Résumé

La vie en solitaire est très courante chez les Canadiens âgés, alors qu’en 2016, 25,8 % des adultes de 65 ans et plus vivaient seuls. L’augmentation du nombre de personnes vivant seules à travers le monde a donné lieu à un débat à savoir si la vie en solitaire avait des répercussions négatives sur le bien-être, la santé et l’intégration sociale des personnes âgées. Nous collaborons à ce débat en examinant si les personnes âgées vivant seules adoptent un emploi du temps différent et une évaluation subjective différente de leur occupation du temps. En nous appuyant sur l’Enquête sociale générale du Canada (2015), nous constatons que les personnes âgées vivant en solitaire ne semblent pas isolées sur le plan social, selon nos mesures objectives et subjectives de l’emploi du temps. En fait, les personnes vivant seules passent plus de temps à communiquer avec leur entourage que celles qui ont une autre situation dans le ménage, et consacrent sensiblement le même temps à manger ou boire que la plupart des autres groupes. Les personnes âgées vivant seules accordent à leurs soins personnels un temps similaire à celui de la plupart des autres groupes, beaucoup moins de temps à s’occuper d’autres personnes que celles ayant toute autre situation dans le ménage, ainsi que beaucoup moins de temps aux tâches domestiques que les personnes vivant avec un conjoint seulement. Nous remarquons qu’il y a peu de différences dans le temps consacré aux loisirs entre les diverses situations dans le ménage. Pour ce qui est de l’emploi du temps subjectif, les personnes âgées qui vivent en solitaire ne sont pas davantage portées à croire qu’elles ne consacrent pas assez de temps à la famille ou aux amis que leurs homologues qui vivent avec d’autres personnes. De plus, les personnes âgées vivant seules seraient beaucoup moins susceptibles que les autres groupes de se sentir stressées, pressées par le temps, ou tendues par manque de temps.

Appendix

Objective time use: The following measures are the total duration measured in minutes for each activity or set of activities.

• 1) Social communication: The total duration (in minutes) for “socializing or communication in person” and “using any type of technology (telephone, email, social media, Skype).”

• 2) Eating and drinking: The total duration (in minutes) for “eating or drinking – Meals, snacks, drinks.”

• 3) Self-care: The total duration (in minutes) for “personal care (personal hygiene; praying, spiritual activities, meditating; sexual activities” and “self-administered medical care, including taking blood pressure, sugar level, medication, treatment.”

• 4) Providing care: The total duration (in minutes) for “care of household child(ren)”, “care of household adult(s)”, and “care or help provided to other household(s).”

• 5) Housework: The total duration (in minutes) for “household chores, including meal preparation, housekeeping, maintenance and repair.”

• 6) Active leisure: The total duration (in minutes) for “arts and hobbies which include drawing, painting, crafting, playing an instrument, dancing, collecting, knitting, photography, board and card games, and gambling,” “leisure activities which include walking, pleasure driving, birdwatching,” “writing which includes writing letters, cards, books, and poems,” and “use of technology which includes general computer use, video games, internet, art or music production.”

• 7) Active sports: The total duration (in minutes) for “exercising,” “organized recreational activities,” “competitive sports (indoor or outdoor),” “outdoor sports (noncompetitive) which include skiing, skating, swimming, tennis, football, and baseball,” and “outdoor activities which include fishing and bunting.”

• 8) Passive leisure: The total duration (in minutes) for “watching television or videos,” “reading online or paper version books, periodicals, newspaper, letters,” and “other passive leisure, such as listening to music or radio.”

Subjective time use: The following measures are comprised of the following survey questions. Response categories are provided after each question.

• 1) Feeling rushed: “How often do you feel rushed? Would you say it is…?” Every day, a few times a week, about once a week, about once a month, less than once a month, or never?

• 2) Want more time alone: “Would you like to spend more time alone?” Yes or No.

• 3) Feel constantly under stress: “Do you feel that you’re constantly under stress trying to accomplish more than you can handle?” Yes or No.

• 4) Worry about not spending enough time with family/friends: “Do you worry that you don’t spend enough time with your family or friends?” Yes or No.

• 5) Whether they feel like they do not have time for fun anymore: “Do you feel that you just don’t have time for fun any more?” Yes or No.