For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Wednesday, June 22, 2011 USDL-11-0919
Technical information: (202) 691-6339 * atusinfo@bls.gov * www.bls.gov/tus
Media contact: (202) 691-5902 * PressOffice@bls.gov
American Time Use Survey -- 2010 Results
In 2010, 82 percent of employed persons worked on an average weekday,
compared with 35 percent on an average weekend day, the U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics reported today. The American Time Use Survey (ATUS)
data include the average amount of time per day in 2010 that
individuals worked, did household activities, and engaged in leisure
and sports activities. Additionally, measures of the average time per
day spent providing childcare--both as a main activity and while doing
other things--for the combined years 2006-10 are provided. 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 2010
--Employed persons worked an average of 7.5 hours on the days they
worked. More hours were worked, on average, on weekdays than on
weekend days--7.9 hours compared with 5.5 hours. (See table 4.)
--On the days that they worked, employed men worked 41 minutes 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 longer than women--8.2 hours compared with 7.8 hours. (See
table 4.)
--Many more people worked on weekdays than on weekend days: 82
percent of employed persons worked on an average weekday, compared
with 35 percent on an average weekend day. These estimates include
individuals who worked on the day, regardless of whether they usually
work on those days. For example, the 35 percent of workers who worked
on a weekend day includes those whose jobs are typically performed on
weekends, as well as those who usually work on weekdays but spent time
working on the weekend. (See table 4.)
--On the days that they worked, 24 percent of employed persons did
some or all of their work at home, and 83 percent did some or all of
their work at their workplace. Men and women were about equally likely
to do some or all of their work at home. (See table 6.)
--Multiple jobholders were more likely to work on an average weekend day
than were single jobholders--51 percent compared with 34 percent.
Multiple jobholders were nearly twice as likely to work at home as
were single jobholders--39 percent compared with 22 percent.(See
tables 4 and 6.)
--Self-employed workers were three times more likely than wage and
salary workers to have done some work at home on days worked--64
percent compared with 19 percent. (See table 7.)
--On the days that they worked, 36 percent of employed people age
25 and over with a bachelor's degree or higher did some work at home,
compared with only 10 percent of those with less than a high school
diploma. (See table 6.)
Household Activities in 2010
--On an average day, 84 percent of women and 67 percent of men spent
some time doing household activities such as housework, cooking,
lawn care, or financial and other household management. (For a
definition of average day, see the Technical Note.) (See table 1.)
--On the days that they did household activities, women spent an
average of 2.6 hours on such activities, while men spent 2.1 hours.
(See table 1.)
--On an average day, 20 percent of men did housework--such as cleaning
or doing laundry--compared with 49 percent of women. Forty-one
percent of men did food preparation or cleanup, compared with 68
percent of women. (See table 1.)
Leisure Activities in 2010
--On an average day, nearly everyone age 15 and over 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 (5.8 hours) than did women (5.1 hours). (See
table 1.)
--Watching TV was the leisure activity that occupied the most time
(2.7 hours per day), accounting for about half of leisure time, on
average, for those age 15 and over. Socializing, such as visiting with
friends or attending or hosting social events, was the next most
common leisure activity, accounting for nearly three-quarters of an
hour per day. (See table 1.)
--Men were more likely than women to participate in sports, exercise, or
recreation on any given day--22 percent compared with 16 percent. On
the days that they participated, men also spent more time in these
activities than did women--1.9 hours compared with 1.3 hours. (See
table 1.)
--On an average day, adults age 75 and over spent 7.7 hours engaged
in leisure activities--more than any other age group; 35- to 44-year-
olds spent 4.2 hours engaged in leisure and sports activities--less
than other age groups. (See table 11.)
--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 18 minutes playing
games or using a computer for leisure. Conversely, individuals ages 15
to 19 read for an average of 6 minutes per weekend day while spending
1.1 hours playing games or using a computer for leisure. (See table 11.)
--Employed adults living in households with no children under 18 engaged
in leisure activities for 4.5 hours per day, nearly an hour more than
employed adults living with a child under age 6. (See table 8.)
Care of Household Children (by Adults in Households with Children) for
the period 2006-10
--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--47 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. (See table 9.)
--On an average day, among adults living in households with children
under 6, women spent 1.1 hours providing physical care (such as
bathing or feeding a child) to household children; by contrast, men
spent 26 minutes providing physical care. (See table 9.)
--Adults living in households with at least one child under 6 spent an
average of 5.6 hours per day providing secondary childcare--that is,
they had at least one child in their care while doing activities other
than primary childcare. Secondary childcare provided by adults living
in households with children under 6 was most commonly provided while
doing leisure activities (2.2 hours) or household activities (1.3
hours). (See table 10.)
--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 (1.8 hours). However, they spent less time
providing secondary childcare on weekdays than on weekend days--4.6
hours compared with 7.7 hours. (See tables 9 and 10.)
Additional Data
ATUS 2010 data files are available for users to do their own
tabulations and analyses. In accordance with BLS and Census Bureau
policies that protect survey respondents' privacy, identifying
information was removed from the data files and some responses have
been edited. The 2010 data files are available on the BLS Web site at
www.bls.gov/tus/data.htm.
