Employment and seniors’ participation in activities

In order to better understand how seniors, spend their time, the role of employment on how much time seniors spend on certain activities should be considered. For instance, employment may affect time use more than age because of its influence and impact on economic resources, time availability, and possible opportunities for social engagement and other activities. In general, older individuals who have transitioned out of employment are more likely to participate and spend a greater number of hours engaged in other activities. For example, participation in unpaid household work is lower for seniors who continue to work, at 78%, versus 89% for those who are not employed

A comparison of seniors’ engagement in civic, religious and organizational activities (which includes volunteer work) shows that their rate of participation did not vary depending on whether or not they were employed (9% for each). In addition, the average time spent on these activities between the employed and those who are not employed was not significant. A similar trend was found for participation and time spent socializing and communicating.

However, employment status matters when it comes to leisure and physical activities. Those who are not employed have a significantly higher participation rate than those who are employed (42% versus 30%). Seniors who are not employed are not only more likely to engage in these activities but, when they participate in leisure and physical activities, they are also more likely to spend additional time (30 minutes) on them than seniors who are still employed.

The results for passive activities also show that the participation rate for reading is higher for those who are not employed than for the employed (39% versus 31%), while the proportions are not significantly different for watching television (85% versus 80%). For time spent by seniors who engaged in these passive activities, the data show that those who are not employed spend an additional 1.2 hours (74 minutes) watching television. In addition, time spent reading is significantly higher for seniors who are not employed than for those who are still employed (an additional 39 minutes).