Promoting wellbeing in young unemployed adults: the importance of identifying meaningful patterns of time use

Aim: This study set out to explore the differences in time use between 'unemployed', 'unemployed but in education' and part-time and full-time employed 18- to 25-year-old Australians. Unemployed individuals generally experience poor health and this may be related to the way they use their time. Activity-based interventions may be one health-promoting strategy. This knowledge is important for all occupational therapists, as many service users are likely to be unemployed.

Method: Time use of unemployed 18- to 25-year-olds (measured using the Modified Occupational Questionnaire) was compared with the time use of part- and full-time employed 18- to 25-year-olds (from the 2006 Australian Time Use Survey).

Results: Individuals in the 'unemployed' groups spent significantly less time engaged in work-related activities than their employed peers. This time was reallocated mainly to recreation and leisure and household work (for both men and women) and child care and sleeping (women only). Recreation and leisure activities were generally passive, home-based activities such as watching television or 'doing nothing'. Individuals in the 'unemployed but in education' groups also spent less time in employment-related activities, but the majority of this time was reallocated to education activities.

Conclusions: Individuals in the 'unemployed' groups spent large amounts of time engaged in potentially non-directed use of time (e.g. watching television or 'doing nothing'). Such patterns of time use have previously been associated with poor health. To support the health of unemployed individuals more effectively, occupational therapy interventions must focus on enhancing the quality of time use for this population.