Time Budget of Inhabitants of Large Cities in Poland During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Introduction. The aim of the research is to determine the structure of the day – the time devoted to various activities – of the inhabitants of large cities in Poland during the COVID-19 pandemic, taking into account the workweek-weekend cycle. Material and methods. Time budget studies – using qualitative research methods (structured interview, including self-reporting) – were conducted in December 2020 among residents of selected 9 large cities in Poland. The research was based on self-reporting by the respondents for one week. The results were analysed using three parameters: the average duration of the activity, the average time of performing the activity, the percentage of people performing the activity. Results. The daytime structure of inhabitants of large cities during the pandemic included 9.19 h (39% day time) for physiological activities, 8.30 h (36%) for duties, 5.49 h (24%) for leisure time and 0.20 h (1%) for commute. Relative to the 2013 GUS survey, there was a decrease in the amount of time spent commuting to work/school (72% decrease), physiological needs (15% decrease) and housework (15% decrease), More time than before the pandemic (51% increase in the amount of time) was devoted to work, and leisure time was spent on sports and recreation (125% increase in the amount of time) and using mass media (16%). Conclusions. COVID-19 pandemic and the associated restrictions have significantly impacted our daily lives and how we use our time.

Leisure Activities of Inhabitants of Large Cities in Poland during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…The study of leisure time during the COVID-19 pandemic was part of a time budget survey conducted in December 2020 among 71 inhabitants of the largest Polish cities (population greater than 300,000) [25]. These cities included Bydgoszcz, Gdańsk, Kraków, Lublin, Łódź, Poznań, Szczecin, Warszawa, Wrocław.…”

“…In the questionnaire, over thirty types of activities were identified and combined into 4 categories: physiological needs, duties, leisure, commute. In the leisure category, the following were distinguished: (1) mass media, (2) social life, (3) hobbies, (4) sport and recreation [5]. In the detailed analysis, these 4 gro-…”

“…Changes in the structure of the day in time budget, including increases in leisure time during the pandemic and the constraints caused by it, have been demonstrated in the UK [3], USA [4] and Poland [5]. Also in Japan, according to a survey, respondents reported that for most leisure activities, the time taken to complete them increased after the coronavirus outbreak [6].…”

“…It was also indicated that home training became an effective alternative to outdoor activities during lockdowns [20]. Considering the activities undertaken, one of the most frequently indicated as well as time-consuming leisure activities carried out during the COVID-19 pandemic was the use of mass media (TV, streaming), social media and video chatting or exchanging messages [21,22,23,24,25]. The undertaken research completed the research gap related to the detailed determination of the leisure time budget in the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic.…”

Polska w obliczu szans i zagrożeń w globalnej gospodarce

“…At microeconomic level, the available research analyses covered primarily issues related to the resilience of enterprises and the preparedness to face external crises [Giancotti, Mauro, 2020], identification of transformation drivers and readiness to apply digital technologies [Gregurec et al, 2021], improving the inter-linkages between SMEs and large companies (in Malaysia) [Utit et al, 2021]. Another group of studies includes initial results of analyses focused on effects for individual companies or sectors in EU member states that in most cases rely on fragmentary data describing the situation in the course of the pandemic and its effect on the performance of various sectors, industries or economies, including, the construction industry in Czechia [Nový, Nováková, 2022], gym and fitness clubs in Poland [Piotrowski, Piotrowska, 2021], tourism in Czechia [Vaishar, Šťastná, 2020], in the entire EU [Williams, 2021] and globally [Gössling et al, 2021], society and sports activities [Begović, 2020;Drewes, 2021], labour market in agriculture [Cortignani et al, 2020], agriculture as an individual sector of economy [Barcaccia et al, 2020;Štreimikienė et al, 2021], the position of women in the labour market of the countries of Global South [Rivera, Castro, 2021], but also fiscal policy in Slovakia [Burger, 2020], the presence of foreign investment in Poland [Umiński, Borowicz, 2021] as well as social and economic growth in European countries [Erić et al, 2021] or the economies of, for example, the Mediterranean EU member states [Urbanovics, Teleki, 2021].…”