NatCen Social Research

ONS Time Use Study
The ONS Time Use Study is a study which aims to find out how different people across England, Scotland and Wales spend their time. Understanding how people spend their time can help to improve services and guide policies that affect people like you.

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Why take part?
By taking part you will make your voice and experiences heard, and support organisations like the ONS and government departments. You will help them to learn about society so they can make decisions about policies and initiatives that improve aspects of everyday life.

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The questionnaire
The ONS Time Use Study is not live at the moment.

If you have recently been invited to take part in the study and you hadn’t the chance to record your time for your allocated diary days, you will hear from us shortly! Because it is important we represent a range of views and experiences, we will get in touch again to give you another chance to take part and claim your voucher.
Who are ONS?
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) are the UK’s largest independent producer of official statistics.

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What's involved?
To take part, we would like you to answer some questions about yourself and let us know how you spend your time on a specific weekday and weekend day.

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- Our pledge to you
  
  We understand you may have some questions about our credentials and how we deal with personal information.
  
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Why have I been invited to take part?
Your participation is important to us. We want to make sure we represent the experiences of all types of people from across England, Scotland and Wales.

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Find out more
For more information about the NatCen Panel please email panel@natcen.ac.uk or call on 0800 652 4569. Our team will be happy to answer any queries you may have.
Paper diary booklet and activities list
Haven’t received the diary booklet yet?

We are sorry about that - a letter with further instructions on the study and a paper diary enclosed to help you take notes of your activities should be on its way!

Due to the coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak, our printing and mailing teams and the postal service aren’t working at full capacity to help prevent the spread of any infection. We are therefore experiencing some delays when sending things in the post. We are sorry for any inconvenience, but it is important that we protect the safety and wellbeing of our staff and yourselves.

In the meantime, you can download a digital version of the paper diary here and of the activities list leaflet here.
Frequently asked questions
Find a quick answer to many of your queries.

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Privacy notice
In this privacy notice, we explain the legal basis for data processing, who will have access to your personal data, how your data will be used, stored and deleted, and who you can contact with a query or a complaint.

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Who are NatCen?
We’re Britain’s largest independent social research agency. Since 1969 we’ve worked on behalf of government and charities to find out what people really think about important social issues and how Britain is run.

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Life during the Coronavirus outbreak
As the Coronavirus outbreak continues around the world, understanding how people in Britain are spending their time and how they are feeling is all the more important. This study has already given some insight into how lives were changing early in the pandemic and your continued participation will help us to understand if and how they continue to be affected.

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