Abstract
Previous research on time use on sociology of education or sociology of children has shown class inequality and regional inequality in children's daily life or time-series changes in specific actions. However, much less is known about comprehensive trends in children's lifestyles in Japan. This paper examines trends in children's lifestyles between 1970 and 2020, by analyzing data from NHK’s Japanese Time Use Survey Data. We use data on elementary school students over 10 years, junior high school students, high school students, and 40s as their parents' generation, and confirm time-series changes in time use from information on the amount of time (how much time they do) and timing (what time they do). The results show that with regard to time-series trends in time use in the nighttime, tendency for elementary school students is similar to that for 40s, while tendencies for middle and high school students are independent of that for 40s. The diversity of daytime in weekdays has been stable for 50 years, but the diversity of daytime on Sundays has no consistent trend of change or stability. The diversity of nighttime in weekdays and Sundays for every group has expanded, but while 40s and elementary school students have gradually become night owl, middle and high school students have been night owl and have increased their free time. Our findings indicate that analysis using information for both timing and the amount of time is effective in examining lifestyles from time use data, and that time use study is important for investigating children's socialization in a long-term and objective perspective.
