This project has one objective that falls under the parent project’s first aim of Database Expansion, which is to add five new years of ATUS data from 2016 to 2020; to double the number of countries included in a web-based portal entitled IPUMS-Time Use; and to incorporate newly-digitized U.S. time diary data from the 1920s and 1930s. Our objective is to support data collection on the well-being, quality of life, and physical and mental health of a large and nationally representative cohort of children and adults ages 15 and older spanning January through December 2021.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted American’s daily routines, increased stress and worry for many, and amplified pre-existing racial, gender, and social class inequities in health and well-being. Evidence suggests that these consequences may not be short-term, especially since the course of this pandemic is unknown. Time diary data in general and well-being data in particular are the best sources of information for understanding how COVID-19 affects Americans’ daily lives and perceptions of health and well- being.

The American Time Use Survey (ATUS) is the only large, nationally representative source of information about how, where, and with whom the U.S. population spends their time outside of paid work. The data collection replicates the ATUS Well-Being Module (WBM) that was previously fielded in 2010, 2012, and 2013, and adds a new question to assess current family well-being in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The WBM collected detailed information about Americans’ experienced momentary well-being at three points during the interview day, that can be tied to specific contexts during the day – what people were doing, where they were, who they were with, and when they felt these emotions. These data enable the scientific community to investigate adherence to and effects of containment and mitigation efforts on daily behaviors, well-being, quality of life, and health, by subgroup. This is of particular interest to NICHD because of the link to early life conditions, family processes and parenting, and the health and well-being of the next generation of Americans, taking into account variability across population subgroups. Our web-based portal, IPUMS Time Use, currently archives and makes available data from historical American surveys of time use, the American Time Use Surveys from 2003 to the present, as well as data from 13 other countries across the globe. After processing, we incorporate the WBM data into our data dissemination system, IPUMS Time Use, which is easily and freely accessible to the research community, and promoted broadly through webinars and a video training library.