Dinner in France: an enduring alimentary synchronism

In this paper we study the place dinner occupies in the evening in France and in particular its scheduling with respect to other activities. The analysis uses data from time-use surveys conducted by the French Institute for Statistics (Insee) in 1986 and 1998. In order to take advantage of the sequential nature of time-use data, we apply Optimal Matching Analysis, a method borrowed from molecular biology by Andrew Abbott. In conjunction with cluster analysis, this method allows us to distinguish between ten types of organization of evenings. Aggregate tempograms are used to visually interpret and assess the quality of the clusters. These different types are highly correlated with gender, age and social class. In contrast to arguments suggesting the end of traditional organization of mealtimes, the comparison between the results of 1986 and 1998 demonstrates a great stability of the dinner sequence and a continuing importance of mealtimes whatever the social group we consider in contemporary France