American Time Use Survey
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American Time Use Survey—2020 Microdata Files
This page includes links to the 2020 ATUS microdata files and supporting documentation. Researchers can use the ATUS microdata files to produce their own time-use estimates or do other analyses. Each ZIP file contains a data file along with computer programs that will read the data file into SAS, SPSS, and Stata. The data files are in CSV-format (comma-separated values).
The microdata files do not contain time-use estimates. Tables showing time-use estimates for major activity categories, selected detailed activities, and selected demographic and labor force characteristics are available on the ATUS Web site under the headings News Releases, Charts and Tables.
About ATUS Data
Basic ATUS Data
2020 Basic ATUS Data Dictionaries (PDF Files)
2020 Basic ATUS Data Files
- ATUS 2020 Respondent file (zip) (0.7 MB) The Respondent file contains information about ATUS respondents, including their labor force status and earnings.
- ATUS 2020 Roster file (zip) (0.1 MB) The Roster file contains information about household members and nonhousehold children (under 18) of ATUS respondents. It includes information such as age and sex.
- ATUS 2020 Activity file (zip) (2.6 MB) The Activity file contains information about how ATUS respondents spent their diary day. It includes information such as activity codes, activity start and stop times, and locations.
- ATUS 2020 Activity summary file (zip) (0.6 MB) The Activity summary file contains information about the total time each ATUS respondent spent doing each activity on the diary day.
- ATUS 2020 Who file (zip) (0.6 MB) The Who file includes codes that indicate who was present during each activity.
- ATUS 2020 Eldercare Roster file (zip) (0.02 MB) The Eldercare Roster file contains information about people for whom ATUS respondents provided care. It includes information such as age, sex, and duration of care.
- ATUS-CPS 2020 file (zip) (6.7 MB) The ATUS-CPS file contains information about each household member of all individuals selected to participate in ATUS. The information on the ATUS-CPS file was collected 2 to 5 months before the ATUS interview.
Additional ATUS Data
2020 Additional ATUS Data Dictionaries (PDF Files)
2020 Additional ATUS Data Files
- ATUS 2020 Case history file (zip) (0.2 MB) The Case history file contains information about the interview process, such as interviewer identifiers and interview outcome codes.
CORRECTED — The Case history file, originally released on July 22, 2021, was re-released on November 30, 2021 with corrected data for the variable TUINCENT. TUINCENT identifies incentive cases, but excludes incentive expansion cases. No other data were changed. - ATUS 2020 Call history file (zip) (1.7 MB) The Call history file contains information about each call attempt, including the call date and outcome.
- ATUS 2020 Replicate weights (zip) (10.4 MB) The Replicate weights file contains miscellaneous ATUS weights.
2020 Survey Documentation
Last Modified Date: November 30, 2021