Watching TV was the leisure activity that occupied the most time, accounting for about half of leisure time, on average, for both men and women.
This annual release of American Time Use Survey (ATUS) data focuses on the average amount of time per day in 2007 that Americans worked, did household activities, cared for household children, participated in educational activities, and engaged in leisure and sports activities. It also includes measures of the average time per day spent providing childcare - both as a primary (or main) activity and while doing other things - for the combined years 2003-07. Except for childcare, activities done simultaneously with primary activities were not collected. For a further description of ATUS data and methodology, see the Technical Note.
Working (by Employed Persons) in 2007
- Employed persons worked an average of 7.6 hours on the days that they worked. They worked longer on weekdays than on weekend days - 7.9 versus 5.6 hours.
- On the days that they worked, employed men worked about three-quarters of an hour more than employed women. This difference partly reflects women’s greater likelihood of working part time. However, even among full-time workers (those usually working 35 hours or more per week), men worked slightly longer than women - 8.2 versus 7.8 hours
- Many more people worked on weekdays than on weekend days: 83 percent of employed persons worked on an average weekday compared with 36 percent on an average weekend day.
- On the days that they worked, 20 percent of employed persons did some or all of their work at home, and 87 percent did some or all of their work at their workplace. Hours worked at home averaged 2.8 hours per day, while hours worked at a workplace averaged 7.9 hours per day. Men and women were equally likely to do some or all of their work at home.
- Multiple jobholders were almost twice as likely to work on an average weekend day as were single jobholders - 62 versus 33 percent. Multiple jobholders also were much more likely to work at home than were single jobholders - 31 versus 18 percent
- Self-employed workers were more likely than wage and salary workers to have done some work at home - 55 versus 16 percent.
- On days that they worked, 35 percent of employed people age 25 and over with a bachelor’s degree or higher did some work at home compared with only 6 percent of those with less than a high school diploma
Household Activities in 2007
- On an average day, 83 percent of women and 66 percent of men spent some time doing household activities, such as housework, cooking, lawn care, or financial and other household management.
- On the days that they did household activities, women spent an average of 2.7 hours on such activities, while men spent 2.2 hours.
- On an average day, 20 percent of men did housework - such as cleaning or doing laundry - compared with 52 percent of women. Thirty-seven percent of men did food preparation or cleanup compared with 64 percent of women.
Educational Activities in 2007
- About 9 percent of the population engaged in educational activities, such as attending class or doing homework, on an average weekday. Those who attended class on a weekday spent an average of 5.2 hours doing so, and those who did homework and research on a weekday spent 2.4 hours in such activities.
- Persons who did homework spent more time doing so on an average weekend day (3.0 hours) than on an average weekday (2.4 hours).
- On an average day, persons ages 15 to 19 spent 3.1 hours engaged in educational activities, more than three times as long as individuals in any other age group.
Leisure Activities in 2007
- On an average day, nearly everyone age 15 and over (96 percent) engaged in some sort of leisure activity, such as watching TV, socializing, or exercising. Of those who engaged in leisure activities, men spent more time in these activities (5.7 hours) than did women (5.0 hours)
- Watching TV was the leisure activity that occupied the most time, accounting for about half of leisure time, on average, for both men and women. Socializing, such as visiting with friends or attending or hosting social events, was the next most common leisure activity, accounting for about three-quarters of an hour per day for both sexes.
- Men were more likely than women to participate in sports, exercise, or recreation on any given day - 21 versus 16 percent. On the days that they participated, men also spent more time in these activities than did women, 2.0 versus 1.4 hours.
- On an average day, adults age 75 and over spent 7.8 hours engaged in leisure activities - more than any other age group; 25- to 34-year-olds and 35- to 44-year-olds spent 4.2 hours engaged in leisure and sports activities - less than other age groups.
- Time spent reading for personal interest and playing games or using a computer for leisure varied greatly by age. Individuals age 75 and over averaged 1.1 hours of reading per weekend day and 0.3 hour 20 minutes) playing games or using a computer for leisure. Conversely, individuals ages 15 to 19 read for an average of 0.3 hour (16 minutes) per weekend day while spending 0.8 hour (47 minutes) playing games or using a computer for leisure.
Employed adults living in households with no children under 18 engaged in leisure activities for 4.4 hours per day, about an hour more than employed adults living with a child under age 6. Care of Household Children (by Adults in Households with Children) for the period 2003-07
Adults living in households with children under 6 spent an average of 2.0 hours per day providing primary childcare to household children. Adults living in households where the youngest child was between the ages of 6 and 17 spent less than half as much time providing primary childcare to household children - 0.8 hour (46 minutes) per day. Primary childcare is childcare that is done as a main activity, such as physical care of children and reading to or talking with children.
On an average weekday, among adults living in households with children under 6, women spent 1.2 hours providing physical care (such as bathing or feeding a child) to household children; by contrast, men spent 0.4 hour (23 minutes). On an average weekend day, women provided about an hour of physical care to household children, while men provided about half an hour.
Adults living in households with children under 6 spent an average of 5.6 hours per day providing secondary childcare - that is, they had at least one child under age 13 in their care while doing activities other than primary childcare. Secondary childcare was most commonly provided while doing leisure activities (2.2 hours) or household activities (1.4 hours)
Adults living in households with children under 6 spent more time providing primary childcare on an average weekday (2.1 hours) than on an average weekend day (1.7 hours). However, they spent less time providing secondary childcare on weekdays than on weekend days - 4.8 versus 7.6 hours.
