Rythmes de vie et usages du temps dans la France d’outre-mer

The last Insee (French statistical institute) Time Use Survey (2009-2010) is striking because it oversamples housings in three overseas departments (Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Réunion). The data allow us to question the uses of time and rhythms of life of the populations living there. Differences with mainland France can then be highlighted. Neutralizing the structural heterogeneity of the inhabitants, it turns out that ultra-mariners spend more time on leisure and sociability than metropolitans. Symmetrically, they spend less time on physiological activities (sleeping and eating). Moreover, the rhythms of life of working people differ. Days begin earlier (awakening and professional activity) and end later in Overseas France than in metropolitan France. In Caribbean France (Guadeloupe and Martinique), rhythms of sleeping stand out: people living in those territories sleep less than metropolitans but take a nap in the afternoon more often