A global resource on work and leisure
Work-in-Data is a research centre based at the Graduate School of Economics and Management at the University of Geneva. Its goal is to make labour statistics across countries more accessible, comparable, and useful. We harmonise household, labour force, and time-use surveys from around the world — aligning definitions, categories, and measures — so that differences in work, time use, and employment can be studied across borders and over time in a single dataset.
At Work-in-Data, we use these two datasets to do frontier research in economics and produce policy-relevant pieces that shed light on how work, time use, and labor markets shape development.
Why does this matter?
Because the way people spend their time — whether in paid jobs, family care, or other forms of work — shapes economies, societies, and lives. Yet too often, data remains fragmented, inconsistent, and difficult to compare.
Our datasets
At Work-in-Data, we build two harmonised datasets covering multiple countries and years, designed for both researchers and policy analysts:
1. The Harmonised World Labour Force Survey (HWLFS) is a unique micro-dataset that harmonises household, census, and labor force from over 2,500 country-year surveys. It provides consistent measurement for up to 60 variables on household composition, individual characteristics, education, employment status, and job information. Overall, the dataset contains data on approximately 500 million individuals from 115 countries.
2. The Harmonised World Time Use Survey (HWTUS) is a unique micro-dataset that harmonises individual diary data from 143 surveys. It measures up to 40 variables on individual characteristics, education, job information, and a 24-hour diary. In its current format, the dataset contains data on approximately 8 million individuals from 50 countries.
Our mission
We use this data for frontier research in economics. These findings are then made accessible to the public in short articles that highlight key findings from the data.
Our long-term goal is to give scholars, policymakers, journalists, and citizens better tools to understand how work is changing — and how it affects economic development and well-being around the globe.
Our funders
This project was made possible through generous funding from:
