Men Women and the Family - How Men And Women Spent Their Time

In September 2004 the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the first of a series of new studies tracking trends in how Americans spent their time. For the American Time Use Survey, twenty-one thousand participants kept a record of how they spent every hour in a single twenty-four-hour period. The survey confirmed that many traditional divisions of labor between men and women had not changed very much over the past few generations. While 78% of women and 85% of men were part of the workforce, two-thirds of women said they prepared meals and did housework on an average day compared to 34% of men who said they helped with meals or cleanup and 19% of men who said they did housework.

Table 2.2 provides a picture of the activities of the average American during a typical twenty-four-hour period, with separate columns showing how men and women used their time differently. For most people, sleep consumed more than one-third of the time. The adult respondents averaged about five hours of leisure time per day, with more than half of it spent watching television. Women spent an average of 138 minutes per day on

TABLE 2.2

Average hours per day spent in primary activities for the totalpopulation and by sex, 20031
	Hours per day, total population
Activities	Total	Men	Women
1Primary activities are those respondents identify as their main activity. Other activities done simultaneously are not included.
2All major activity categories include related travel time.
Note: Data refer to respondents 15 years and over.
SOURCE: Adapted from "Table 1. Average Hours per Day Spent in Primary Activities for the Total Population and for Persons Reporting the Activity on the Diary Day by Activity Category and Sex, 2003 Annual Averages," in American Time-Use Survey, U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2004, http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/atus.pdf (accessed September 16, 2004)
Total, all activities2	24.00	24.00	24.00
Personal care activities	9.34	9.13	9.54
Sleeping	8.57	8.48	8.65
Eating and drinking	1.21	1.24	1.18
Household activities	1.83	1.33	2.30
Housework	0.62	0.23	0.98
Food preparation and cleanup	0.53	0.25	0.79
Lawn and garden care	0.20	0.26	0.14
Household management	0.13	0.11	0.15
Purchasing goods and services	0.81	0.68	0.94
Consumer goods purchases	0.40	0.32	0.48
Professional and personal care services	0.09	0.07	0.11
Caring for and helping household members	0.55	0.34	0.75
Caring for and helping household children	0.42	0.24	0.58
Caring for and helping non-household members	0.29	0.26	0.31
Caring for and helping non-household adults	0.11	0.11	0.10
Working and work-related activities	3.69	4.57	2.87
Working	3.32	4.09	2.60
Education activities	0.47	0.45	0.50
Attending class	0.29	0.28	0.29
Homework and research	0.14	0.12	0.15
Organizational, civic, and religious activities	0.32	0.29	0.35
Religious and spiritual activities	0.14	0.12	0.16
Volunteering (organizational and civic activities)	0.14	0.13	0.14
Leisure and sports	5.11	5.41	4.83
Socializing and communicating	0.78	0.72	0.83
Watching television	2.57	2.75	2.41
Participating in sports, excercise, and recreation	0.30	0.39	0.21
Telephone calls, mail, and e-mail	0.19	0.13	0.24
Other activities, not elsewhere classified	0.19	0.18	0.20

household activities, while for the men this figure was just 80 minutes. Men tended to spend an extra half an hour per day on leisure activities, while women spent that half hour caring for family members and communicating by telephone, mail, and e-mail.

Activities varied for the average adult on weekdays compared to weekends and holidays. On weekend days and holidays people reported getting over an hour more of additional sleep. They also spent one and three-quarters hours more time in leisure activities. The average adult watched thirty minutes more television on weekends and holidays and enjoyed an extra thirty minutes of social time. (See Table 2.3.)

Factors such as age, race, presence of children, and educational level determined how people spent their

TABLE 2.3

Average hours spent in primary activities on weekdays and weekend 20031
	Hours per day, total population
Activity	Weekdays	Weekends and holiday2
1Primary activities are those respondents identify as their main activity. Other activities done simultaneously are not included.
2Holidays are New Year's Day, Easter, Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. In 2003, data were not collected about Thanksgiving Day or Christmas Day.
3All major activity categories include related travel time.
4Data not shown where base is less than 800,000.
Note: Data refer to respondents 15 years and over.
SOURCE: Adapted from "Table 2. Average Hours per Day Spent in Primary Activities for the Total Population and for Persons Reporting the Activity on the Diary Day by Activity Category and Weekdays and Weekends, 2003 Annual Averages,"in American Time-Use Survey, U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2004, http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/atus.pdf (accessed September 16, 2004)
Total, all activities3	24.00	24.00
Personal care activities	9.04	10.04
Sleeping	8.26	9.30
Eating and drinking	1.16	1.32
Household activities	1.69	2.18
Housework	0.57	0.73
Food preparation and cleanup	0.51	0.57
Lawn and garden care	0.16	0.28
Household management	0.13	0.13
Purchasing goods and services	0.76	0.95
Consumer goods purchases	0.34	0.57
Professional and personal care services	0.11	0.05
Caring for and helping household members	0.59	0.46
Caring for and helping household children	0.43	0.38
Caring for and helping non-household members	0.28	0.30
Caring for and helping non-household adults	0.10	0.13
Working and work-related activities	4.68	1.33
Working	4.22	1.19
Educational activities	0.61	0.14
Attending class	0.40	4
Homework and research	0.14	0.12
Organizational, civic, and religious activities	0.22	0.55
Religious and spiritual activities	0.06	0.34
Volunteering (organizational and civic activities)	0.14	0.14
Leisure and sports	4.59	6.35
Socializing and communicating	0.61	1.18
Watching television	2.39	3.01
Participating in sports, exercise, and recreation	0.26	0.37
Telephone calls, mail, and e-mail	0.20	0.16
Other activities, not elsewhere classified	0.18	0.20

leisure time. For example, adults in the typical child-raising years of twenty-five to forty-four spent less than four and one-half hours in leisure activities, while people under age twenty-four and over age fifty-five found five and one-half hours for sports and leisure. People over age sixty-five enjoyed more than seven hours of daily leisure activity. Both men and women with less than a high school education were more likely to spend leisure time socializing and watching television. Of people who participated in sports or enjoyed reading, men and women with a bachelor's degree or higher spent the most time in those activities. Of people who enjoyed playing games or using the computer for fun, men and women with high school diplomas but less than a college degree most frequently chose those activities. (See Table 2.4.)

Not surprisingly, as people aged they spent less time working and more time eating and drinking (1.52 hours per day at age sixty-five and over compared to .96 hours per day at age fifteen to twenty-four), taking care of household activities (2.55 at age sixty-five and over compared to .82 hours at age fifteen to twenty-four), and enjoying leisure activities (7.16 hours at age sixty-five and over compared to 4.20 at age thirty-five to forty-four). (See Table 2.5.)

TABLE 2.4

Average hours per day spent in leisure and sports activities, 2003
	Hours per day spent in leisure and sports activities
	Total, all leisure and sports activities			Participating in sports, exercise, and recreation		Socializing and communicating		Watching TV		Reading		Relaxing/thinking		Playing games and computer use for leisure		Other leisure and sports activities, including travel1
Characteristic	Total, both sexes	Men	Women	Men	Women	Men	Women	Men	Women	Men	Women	Men	Women	Men	Women	Men	Women
1Includes other leisure and sports activities, not elsewhere classified, and travel related to leisure and sports activities.
2Includes persons with a high school diploma or equivalent.
3Includes persons with bachelor's, master's, professional, and doctoral degrees.
Note: Unless otherwise specified, data refer to respondents 15 years and over. Persons whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race and, therefore, are classified by ethnicity as well as by race.
SOURCE: "Table 9. Average Hours Per Day Spent in Leisure and Sports Activities for the Total Population by Selected Characteristics, 2003 Annual Averages," in American Time-Use Survey, U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2004, http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/atus.pdf (accessed September 16, 2004)
Age
Total, 15 years and over	5.11	5.41	4.83	0.39	0.21	0.72	0.83	2.75	2.41	0.33	0.40	0.34	0.32	0.36	0.23	0.52	0.43
15 to 24 years	5.46	5.92	4.99	0.67	0.36	1.00	1.02	2.29	2.17	0.14	0.14	0.22	0.22	0.80	0.43	0.79	0.65
25 to 34 years	4.30	4.58	4.03	0.37	0.22	0.72	0.83	2.33	2.01	0.14	0.18	0.24	0.24	0.36	0.19	0.42	0.37
35 to 44 years	4.20	4.60	3.81	0.32	0.19	0.63	0.72	2.54	1.87	0.20	0.26	0.26	0.22	0.21	0.16	0.45	0.38
45 to 54 years	4.67	4.89	4.46	0.27	0.18	0.60	0.83	2.65	2.26	0.30	0.34	0.38	0.30	0.24	0.18	0.45	0.37
55 to 64 years	5.27	5.55	5.02	0.34	0.18	0.63	0.78	3.06	2.53	0.43	0.55	0.39	0.34	0.25	0.21	0.45	0.42
65 years and over	7.16	7.52	6.88	0.33	0.13	0.73	0.81	4.05	3.70	0.94	1.01	0.66	0.63	0.26	0.24	0.54	0.37
Race and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity
White	5.07	5.32	4.83	0.39	0.23	0.71	0.83	2.69	2.39	0.35	0.44	0.31	0.29	0.34	0.23	0.53	0.43
Black or African American	5.55	6.13	5.09	0.32	0.12	0.77	0.84	3.35	2.72	0.19	0.18	0.58	0.56	0.45	0.28	0.47	0.38
Hispanic or Latino ethnicity	4.85	5.28	4.41	0.46	0.19	0.76	0.79	2.78	2.53	0.15	0.13	0.33	0.24	0.27	0.12	0.53	0.41
Employment status
Employed	4.23	4.53	3.89	0.35	0.21	0.65	0.74	2.26	1.83	0.23	0.28	0.28	0.23	0.30	0.19	0.45	0.41
Employed full-time	4.06	4.33	3.66	0.32	0.19	0.64	0.67	2.21	1.76	0.21	0.26	0.28	0.23	0.26	0.16	0.42	0.39
Employed part-time	4.83	5.60	4.40	0.52	0.24	0.75	0.91	2.55	2.00	0.34	0.32	0.31	0.23	0.50	0.24	0.64	0.46
Not employed	6.71	7.66	6.12	0.48	0.21	0.90	0.95	3.98	3.19	0.57	0.57	0.50	0.44	0.52	0.30	0.70	0.45
Presence of children
No household children under 18	5.62	5.87	5.36	0.39	0.21	0.71	0.84	3.07	2.69	0.40	0.54	0.38	0.38	0.37	0.25	0.55	0.44
Household children under 18	4.35	4.64	4.10	0.39	0.20	0.74	0.82	2.21	2.02	0.20	0.21	0.28	0.23	0.35	0.21	0.47	0.41
Children 13 to 17 years, none younger	4.77	5.14	4.45	0.47	0.22	0.78	0.84	2.26	2.18	0.28	0.29	0.30	0.26	0.55	0.22	0.49	0.44
Children 6 to 12 years, none younger	4.44	4.76	4.18	0.43	0.25	0.76	0.80	2.27	2.01	0.19	0.23	0.27	0.22	0.33	0.21	0.51	0.46
Youngest child under 6 years	4.02	4.23	3.84	0.30	0.16	0.70	0.83	2.14	1.93	0.15	0.14	0.27	0.23	0.25	0.20	0.43	0.35
Educational attainment, 25 years and over
Less than high school	6.29	6.75	5.87	0.32	0.11	0.76	0.85	3.94	3.47	0.29	0.35	0.79	0.65	0.19	0.12	0.44	0.31
High school diploma2	5.36	5.52	5.21	0.32	0.13	0.68	0.84	3.19	2.81	0.25	0.45	0.41	0.41	0.23	0.21	0.44	0.37
Less than a bachelor's degree	4.78	5.08	4.53	0.26	0.17	0.63	0.76	2.70	2.28	0.37	0.44	0.31	0.27	0.33	0.23	0.47	0.38
Bachelor's degree or higher3	4.29	4.56	4.01	0.38	0.28	0.62	0.74	2.11	1.66	0.52	0.54	0.18	0.17	0.27	0.17	0.48	0.44

TABLE 2.5

Average hours spent in primary activities by age and sex, 2003
	Hours per day spent in leisure and sports activities
Characteristic	Personal care activities	Eating and drinking	Household activities	Purchasing goods and services	Caring for and helping household members	Caring for and helping non household members	Working and work-related activities	Educational activities	Organizational, civic, and religious activities	Leisure and sports	Telephone calls, mail, and e-mail	Other activities not elsewhere classified
*Data not shown where base is less than 800,000
SOURCE: Adapted from "Table 3. Average Hours per Day Spent in Primary Activities for the Total Population, by Age, Sex, Race, Hispanic or Latino Ethnicity, and Educational Attainment, 2003 Annual Averages," in American Time-Use Survey, U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2004, http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/atus.pdf (accessed September 16, 2004)
Total, 15 years and over	9.34	1.21	1.83	0.81	0.55	0.29	3.69	0.47	0.32	5.11	0.19	0.19
15 to 24 years	9.95	0.96	0.82	0.69	0.27	0.32	2.65	2.20	0.26	5.46	0.24	0.19
25 to 34 years	9.25	1.17	1.59	0.78	1.11	0.23	4.78	0.29	0.21	4.30	0.13	0.16
35 to 44 years	9.07	1.16	1.99	0.82	1.05	0.19	4.81	0.10	0.34	4.20	0.13	0.16
45 to 54 years	9.00	1.19	1.97	0.84	0.38	0.31	4.91	0.06	0.34	4.67	0.17	0.17
55 to 64 years	9.13	1.35	2.28	0.90	0.15	0.40	3.70	*	0.37	5.27	0.21	0.20
65 years and over	9.65	1.52	2.55	0.89	0.13	0.31	0.77	*	0.44	7.16	0.27	0.28
Men, 15 years and over	9.13	1.42	1.33	0.68	0.34	0.26	4.57	0.45	0.29	5.41	0.13	0.18
15 to 24 years	9.85	0.94	0.65	0.54	0.10	0.37	2.95	2.06	0.26	5.92	0.19	0.16
25 to 34 years	8.93	1.21	1.10	0.70	0.58	0.24	5.95	*	0.21	4.58	0.10	0.14
35 to 44 years	8.82	1.19	1.40	0.67	0.68	0.17	5.84	*	0.31	4.60	0.10	0.16
45 to 54 years	8.76	1.22	1.45	0.66	0.27	0.23	5.93	*	0.27	4.89	0.12	0.14
55 to 64 years	8.93	1.40	1.79	0.68	0.09	0.27	4.64	*	0.32	5.55	0.13	0.20
65 years and over	9.51	1.65	1.89	0.90	0.15	0.31	1.20	*	0.41	7.52	0.16	0.29
Women, 15 years and over	9.54	1.18	2.30	0.94	0.75	0.31	2.87	0.50	0.35	4.83	0.24	0.20
15 to 24 years	10.06	0.97	1.00	0.83	0.45	0.27	2.35	2.33	0.25	4.99	0.30	0.21
25 to 34 years	9.55	1.12	2.08	0.86	1.64	0.22	3.62	0.31	0.22	4.03	0.16	0.17
35 to 44 years	9.31	1.13	2.56	0.96	1.40	0.20	3.81	0.14	0.36	3.81	0.16	0.16
45 to 54 years	9.23	1.16	2.48	1.01	0.47	0.40	3.92	*	0.40	4.46	0.22	0.19
55 to 64 years	9.31	1.30	2.71	1.10	0.21	0.52	2.88	*	0.42	5.02	0.28	0.20
65 years and over	9.76	1.43	3.06	0.89	0.12	0.31	0.43	*	0.46	6.88	0.36	0.28