The word "leisure" comes from the Latin word licere, which means "to be allowed." A common American view considers leisure as something allowed after one's work is done: time that is free after required activities. Recreation, however, is a different matter. The Oxford American Dictionary defines recreation as "a process or means of refreshing or entertain…
Americans enjoy some of the highest standards of living in the world. Although the United States trails other countries in such significant measures of health and wellbeing as infant mortality and life expectancy, the world generally respects—even envies—the quality of life enjoyed by most Americans. Americans do work hard. Although the number of hours of nonwork time available to Am…
People who perform certain activities all day at a job often pursue dramatically different activities during their time off. For example, someone who sits behind a desk at work may choose a physically active pastime, such as recreational walking. Similarly, a person with a job that requires demanding physical labor may choose a more sedentary activity, such as playing computer games, reading, or p…
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%),…
Reading is one of the favorite leisure activities of Americans. A 2002 Gallup poll found that the overwhelming majority (83.5%) of Americans said they had read all or part of at least one book in the year preceding the survey. The average number of books read per year was sixteen among those who had read one book or more. According to a 2002 Gallup poll, Americans had a wide range of reading inter…
Americans also spend a considerable amount of their leisure time in front of the television, according to Harris Interactive. Where once all television viewers had only a handful of broadcast networks to choose from, by 2003 TABLE 1.1 there were 283 different cable and satellite channels available, according to Screen Digest. A 2003 study done by Nielsen Media Research found that 73.9 million…
Personal computing is an important leisure activity for many Americans. Accessing the Internet, using educational or entertainment software, playing music, and communicating with friends or family are all typical activities of home computer users. Americans' use of the Internet has grown dramatically since the mid-1990s. In 1995 the Pew Research Center for The People & The Press foun…
Like tastes in food, fashion, and music, American exercise habits have undergone significant shifts. Participation in sports and other fitness activities is important to many Americans. In Sports Participation Topline Report (2004), the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA) described facts about Americans who were frequent or occasional sports participants, along with Americans'pr…
Pets often provide more than recreation for their owners—they may become companions and family members, and most pet owners report that their pets bring pleasure to their lives. Many pet owners, wanting to extend their pets' lives and improve their health, are willing to spend large amounts on veterinary care; some purchase health insurance for their pets. Some even send their pamper…
A hobby is an activity or pastime that is performed primarily for pleasure rather than for business. Hobbies were once the mainstay of leisure time. While this sort of activity still exists, industry observers believe it is less popular, seeming to have been surpassed by collecting, a profit-motivated activity. Some of the most common hobbies are cross-stitching/embroidering, crocheting, quilting,…
Many Americans spend their leisure time in volunteer work helping others. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) survey Volunteering in the United States 2003 found that 63.8 million people did volunteer work of some type between September 2002 and September 2003, up from 59.8 million a year earlier. During the same period the rate of Americans volunteering rose from 27.4% of those age sixteen …
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