Patterns of Time Use Across the Life Span in Korea: A Latent Class Analysis and Age and Gender Differences

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of time use and the patterns of time use across the life span using a socioemotional selectivity theory. The data used for this study were from the “Korean Time Use Survey,” which is collected every 5 years by Statistics Korea (KOSTAT). The data collected in 1999, 2004, and 2009 were used to analyze the patterns of time use using latent class analyses and to observe the differences of time use by age and gender. The results were summarized as follows: Based on the analyses of nine behavior classifications, after sleep and personal care, Korean allocated more time in daily activities to relationship and leisure time, followed by education, paid work, and household management, with the order differing between each age group and gender. Three different classes of time use were classified at each age group. Education-centered time use was revealed to be mainly in the young, paid work-centered in the middle-aged, and relationship and leisure-centered in older adults. We find significant gender differences. Men’s patterns of time did not change markedly across the 3 years, while women’s patterns have shifted. Meanwhile, in the age 65 and older group, paid work appeared alongside as well as leisure among most prominent activities, were appeared as dominant forms of time use. This phenomenon is closely related to reflecting high rates of elderly poverty in Korea. Further discussions concerning the time use by age and gender were provided and countermeasures for changing time use in later life were discussed. © 2016, Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.