Everyday activity of rural employees in Siberia

Abstract

The article presents the results of the fifth bi-seasonal survey conducted in 2004– 2005 within the framework of the longitudinal study of the time use, everyday activity and living conditions of the rural population. The study is conducted on a sample group of villages representative of the south of Siberia in rather different historical periods. The emphasis is made on changes that have taken place in the rural everyday life and on the use of time during the last two decades; in particular, in the beginning of the new century. It presents the results of the analysis of the time budgets of working women and working men and their answers to questions concerning the facts of reality, their assessments and values. In the early 2000s the working time of men increased, while their time spent on private plot production and housework decreased. Similar situation was observed in the case of women; however, the time spent on household production increased. More pronounced changes were observed among agricultural workers, especially men (increasing working time and decreasing time of housework, sleep and leisure). On the whole, there was a noticeable redistribution of time between work in the house and household production and work in the agricultural enterprise being the source of the material well-being of the rural family. The male-female difference in the total work load and leisure time has decreased.