[MIC] Solicitation of Opinions on the Partial Revision of the Regulations Governing the “Survey on Time Use and Leisure Activities”

On February 23, 2021, the MIC began to solicit opinions on the draft ministerial ordinance to partially revise the regulations governing the “Survey on Time Use and Leisure Activities”. The Survey aims to obtain comprehensive data on the lifestyles of various groups in order to improve the interpretation and understanding of various social and economic phenomena. The survey has been conducted every five years since 1976, and the 10th survey is scheduled to be conducted this year. The main amendments suggested in the draft are as follows:

(1) Survey items

  • Item to be added 
  • Chronic illness and long-term health problems, and the degree to which they interfere with daily life
  • Items to be abolished
  • Weather on the survey date
  • Types of residence
  • Status of ownership of private cars
  • Status of use of nursing care support

(2) A change in the survey method

It will become possible to send questionnaires to the respondents by mail in cases where it is difficult for the investigators to visit each household and collect answers directly due to pandemics or disasters. The questionnaires will be sent by the prefectural governors to each household and also returned by mail.

According to the MIC, the item “Chronic illness and long-term health problems, and the degree to which they interfere with daily life” was added to the questionnaires to provide richer statistics regarding persons with disabilities, which are still considered insufficient. The “Parliamentary League for Promotion of Stable Employment and Safe Employment of Persons with Disabilities” also advocates on this issue, in order to enable the comparison of conditions between persons with and without disabilities in many categories. Regarding the choices of survey items, the items indicated by the guidelines of Harmonised European Time Use Surveys (HETUS) in 2018 were taken into consideration in order to make international comparison possible. The period for soliciting opinions on the draft ministerial ordinance is from 23rd February to 25th March 2021. For more information, please visit the following web site (Japanese only). https://www.soumu.go.jp/menu_news/s-news/01toukei04_01000198.html

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