While many respondents were very enthusiastic about completing their diaries, a few forgot. Interviewers were sure that the quality of the diaries was better because of the diary interview where the interviewer had the opportunity to go over the diary with the respondent. The resulting time use statistics relate to the population aged 12 years and over living in private households in New Zealand. The Ministry of Women's Affairs and Statistics New Zealand have worked together to specify statistical tables which will be the first-level output from the survey. Many of the tables take the form of average minutes per day spent by different groups of people on different activities.
Some tables relate to primary activities only, while others cover simultaneous activities as well.
The minutes per day in some tables are averaged across the entire population, while others are averaged across only those reporting the activity in their diaries. Further tables present estimates of the numbers of people who undertake different types of unpaid work. These statistics will complement information available from other official surveys such as the census and the Household Labour Force Survey. The first release of time use statistics will be in December 1999. As further detailed results become available, the Ministry of Women's Affairs and Statistics New Zealand will provide a staged series of releases through 2000.