How Americans Spend Their Time - How Do Americans Like To Spend Their Leisure Time?

A survey conducted in October 2003 by Humphrey Taylor of the Harris organization asked Americans to name their two or three favorite ways to spend leisure time. The top response was reading, chosen by 24% of those polled, with watching television and spending time with family or children each following closely, both being cited by 17% of those asked. Other popular activities included fishing (9%), going to movies (7%), socializing with friends or neighbors (7%), playing team sports (6%), exercise activities such as weights and aerobics (6%), and gardening (6%). To a lesser extent the respondents also mentioned using a computer, participating in church activities, dining out, and watching sports (5% each); and walking, listening to music, shopping, traveling, hunting, and making crafts (4% each), among other choices.

Over the eight-year span this poll was conducted, the popularity of most of these activities remained relatively constant, although watching television and reading showed slight declines over that time, with perhaps the most significant change being the decline in activities that involved exercise, which fell from 38% in 1995 to 29% in 2003.

Although Americans named these as their favorite recreational activities, the way they actually spent their leisure time was not necessarily the same, according to a 2001 survey conducted by the Leisure Trends Group. While this poll found reading to be the most-cited activity, when asked how they had spent their leisure time the previous day, twice as many survey respondents reported watching television as reading. Americans may also not always have a choice of how to spend their free time. For example, housecleaning ranked eighth in the survey of how Americans spent leisure time but did not rank at all among the top ten favorite leisure-time activities.

Teenagers

The 2003 Gallup Youth Survey found that teens' favorite ways to spend an evening included hanging out with friends or family (34%); watching television, movies, or sports (19%); playing video games (8%); or playing sports/exercising (7%). Only 3% each said they liked to read or talk on the phone, and using the Internet or a computer, sleeping, shopping, listening to music, and eating were each mentioned by just 1%.

There were significant differences in responses between boys and girls—only 26% of boys liked to hang out with friends or family, while this activity was preferred by 43% of girls. On the other hand, 15% of boys mentioned playing video games, while no girls cited this activity. Five percent of girls liked to read, while only 1% of boys did, and 5% of girls liked to talk on the phone, while less than 1% of boys did. More than twice as many boys (10%) as girls (4%) said they liked to play sports or exercise.