This study examines how older adults’ (65yo-plus) daily activities shifted during the years around the COVID pandemic, with regards to activity type, activity partner, and activity location. Using data from the American Time Use Survey, this study compares activities across the pre-pandemic (2019-March 2020), early pandemic (May-December 2020) and pandemic-normal (2021) periods. We draw on and extend continuity theory, testing whether a societal event impacting daily life may influence daily activities. Compared with the pre-pandemic period, respondents reported spending less time on leisure outside the home, traveling, and with non-household members, and more time alone, and at home during first year of the pandemic. Sequence and cluster analyses showed five typologies characterising typical days across the three periods, predominated by housework, leisure at home, TV, a combination of leisure at home and outside with TV, and paid work. Proportion of respondents in each cluster shifted, as well as within clusters duration of time in each activity. Across the pre-pandemic and early pandemic periods, proportion of sample belonging to the primarily leisure at home cluster increased (9.9% to 17.9%) while proportion belonging to primarily housework cluster decreased (45.7% to 17.6%). During the pandemic-normal period, characteristics and patterns of daily activities reversed slightly to be more similar to that observed before the pandemic. COVID has shifted daily life of older adults, though consistent with continuity theory, we find a slight reversal during second year of the pandemic towards patterns observed before the pandemic.

Authors:
Jack Lam, University of Queensland, Australia
Joan Garcia-Roman, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain

About the Presenter(s)
Dr Jack Lam is is currently working at University of Queensland in Australia

See this presentation on the full schedule – Tuesday Schedule

Bookmark