A day with the Dutch

How do people in the Netherlands use their time, and are there any differences compared with other countries? In this report, time use in the Netherlands and fifteen other European countries is described, compared and placed in an international comparative perspective. The comparison is based on time use surveys which were carried out in accordance with a comparable design in all the countries, including the Netherlands. Since this is the first time that the Netherlands has been part of an international comparative study based on the Harmonized European Time Use (HETUS) data, the focus will be mainly on the Netherlands. Special attention is given to gender differences in time use. In addition, the report explores the extent to which countries show differences or resemblances in time use patterns, and in particular with which countries Dutch time use corresponds. Time can be spent on a broad range of activities each day. The activities considered in this report are personal care (sleeping, eating), obligations (study, paid work, household tasks and childcare), free time and travel. In which countries do people have busy lives, and where do people have the largest amount of free time? How are tasks divided between men and women? Which countries are alike in terms of the time use of the population considered? These and other questions form the subject of this report.