'One Year of COVID-19' Seoul Citizens' Daily Lives Changed... Working Hours ↓, Leisure Time ↑

Changes in Individual Weekday Behavior Due to Social Distancing Policy
Increased Media Use (+18 min), Internet & Mobile Games (+10 min), Sleep (+4 min)
Decreased Working Time (-12 min), Personal Care (-12 min), Travel (-8 min)

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Due to COVID-19, the labor and commuting hours of Seoul citizens have decreased, while leisure time and media usage time have increased.

According to Seoul City on the 4th, the daily routine of Seoul citizens was surveyed as 9 hours 26 minutes of essential time, 9 hours 2 minutes of obligatory time, and 5 hours 32 minutes of leisure time last year. Compared to 2019, before the outbreak of COVID-19, essential time decreased by 3 minutes, obligatory time decreased by 15 minutes, and leisure time increased by 18 minutes.

To analyze the daily life time of Seoul citizens on weekdays in November 2019 and November 2020, an online survey was conducted targeting 1,000 citizens aged 18 to 69 residing in Seoul.

Although sleep time increased by 9 minutes, essential time for Seoul citizens decreased by an average of 3 minutes due to a 12-minute reduction in personal maintenance time such as personal health care, hygiene, and appearance management. Sleep time increased across all groups due to social distancing. In particular, the 18-29 age group showed the largest increase in sleep time, rising by 19 minutes, and the non-employed group increased by 15 minutes. This is about twice the increase compared to the employed group.

Obligatory time for Seoul citizens decreased overall by 15 minutes as time spent at home increased due to social distancing, leading to increased housework and study time, while working and commuting time decreased. Housework time increased by an average of 4 minutes, rising in most groups except for the 60-69 age group and employed women with spouses. Wage workers’ housework time increased by 1 minute, whereas self-employed individuals increased by 20 minutes, indicating significant lifestyle changes due to COVID-19. Non-employed women with spouses (full-time homemakers) worked about 30 minutes more than employed women.

Working and commuting times decreased across all groups. The 18-29 age group showed the largest decrease, indicating a close correlation between working and commuting times.

Leisure time for Seoul citizens increased by an average of 19 minutes. Indoor activities such as media usage and online/mobile gaming increased, while outdoor activities such as culture/tourism, socializing/participation, and sports/leisure time decreased. However, culture/tourism and socializing/participation times decreased across all groups, especially among non-employed women with spouses (full-time homemakers) and self-employed individuals. Additionally, sports/leisure time decreased by an average of 4 minutes across all age groups.

Furthermore, non-face-to-face (online) indoor activities increased. The most substituted activities were ▲media usage such as Netflix and YouTube (50.0%), ▲cultural and tourism activities such as online performances (48.5%), ▲online PC/mobile gaming (32.7%), and ▲socializing and participation activities such as video conferences and online worship (30.0%).

Lee Won-mok, Director of Seoul City’s Smart City Policy Office, said, “Through understanding changes in daily life time before and after COVID-19, we confirmed Seoul citizens’ active participation in social distancing.” He added, “We will use this as basic data to establish policies that balance work and life for the happy lives of Seoul citizens in preparation for the post-COVID-19 era.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.