For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Wednesday, June 19, 2019	           USDL-19-1003

Technical information:	(202) 691-6339  *  atusinfo@bls.gov  *  www.bls.gov/tus
Media contact:	        (202) 691-5902  *  PressOffice@bls.gov


                        AMERICAN TIME USE SURVEY -- 2018 RESULTS


In 2018, 89 percent of full-time employed persons worked on an average
weekday, compared with 31 percent on an average weekend day, the U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Full-time employed persons
averaged 8.5 hours of work time on weekdays they worked, and 5.4 hours
on weekend days they worked. Multiple jobholders were more likely to
work on an average weekend day than were single jobholders--56 percent,
compared with 28 percent.

These and other results from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) were
released today. These data include the average amount of time per day
in 2018 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 primary (or main)
activity and while doing other things--for the combined years 2014-18
are provided. For a detailed description of ATUS data and methodology,
see the Technical Note.

Working (by Employed Persons) in 2018

   --Many more full-time employed persons worked on weekdays than on
     weekend days: 89 percent worked on an average weekday, compared
     with 31 percent on an average weekend day. (See table 4.)

   --Multiple jobholders were more likely to work on an average
     weekday than were single jobholders--90 percent, compared with
     82 percent. They were also more likely to work on an average
     weekend day--56 percent, compared with 28 percent. (See table
     4.)

   --On days they worked, 82 percent of employed persons did some
     or all of their work at their workplace and 24 percent did some
     or all of their work at home. Employed persons spent more time
     working at the workplace than at home--7.9 hours, compared with
     2.9 hours. (See table 6.)

   --Among workers age 25 and over, those with an advanced degree
     were more likely to work at home than were persons with lower
     levels of educational attainment--42 percent of those with an
     advanced degree performed some work at home on days worked,
     compared with 12 percent of those with a high school diploma
     and no college. Workers with an advanced degree also were more
     likely to work on an average day than were those with only a
     high school diploma--74 percent, compared with 65 percent. (See
     table 6.)

   --On days they worked in 2003, 19 percent of employed workers
     spent some time working while at home. The share of employed
     workers performing work at home rose to 24 percent in 2009,
     and remained relatively flat from 2009 to 2018. (See table 6.)

   --On the days they worked, employed men worked 34 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 more per day than women--8.2 hours, compared
     with 7.9 hours. (See table 4.)

Household Activities in 2018

   --On an average day, 84 percent of women and 69 percent of men
     spent some time doing household activities, such as housework,
     cooking, lawn care, or household management. (See table 1.)

   --On the days they did household activities, women spent an average
     of 2.6 hours on these activities, while men spent 2.0 hours. (See
     table 1.)

   --On an average day, 20 percent of men did housework--such as 
     cleaning or laundry--compared with 49 percent of women. Forty-
     six percent of men did food preparation or cleanup, compared
     with 69 percent of women. Men were slightly more likely to
     engage in lawn and garden care than were women--11 percent,
     compared with 7 percent. (See table 1.)

   --From 2003 to 2018, the share of men doing food preparation and
     cleanup on an average day increased from 35 percent to 46 percent.
     (See table 1.)

Leisure Activities in 2018

   --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. Men spent 49 minutes per day more in
     these activities than did women (5.7 hours, compared with 4.9
     hours). (See table 1.)

   --On average, adults age 75 and over spent 7.8 hours engaged in
     leisure activities per day--more than any other age group; 25-
     to 44-year-olds spent a little over 4.0 hours engaged in leisure
     and sports activities per day--less than other age groups. (See
     table 11A.) 

   --Watching TV was the leisure activity that occupied the most time
     (2.8 hours per day), accounting for just over half of all leisure
     time, on average. (See table 11A.)

   --Socializing and communicating, such as visiting with friends
     or attending or hosting social events, accounted for an average
     of 38 minutes per day, and was the next most common leisure
     activity after watching TV. Individuals spent about twice as
     much time socializing on weekend days (59 minutes) as on
     weekdays (29 minutes). (See tables 11A and 11B.)

   --Time spent reading for personal interest varied greatly by age.
     Individuals age 75 and over averaged 48 minutes of reading per
     day whereas individuals ages 15 to 54 read on average 10 minutes
     or less per day. (See table 11A.)

   --On average, persons ages 15 to 24 spent the most time playing
     games or using a computer for leisure--about one hour per day.
     (See table 11A.)

   --Men were more likely than women to participate in sports,
     exercise, or recreation on any given day--21 percent, compared
     with 17 percent. On days that they participated, men also
     spent more time doing these activities than did women--1.7
     hours, compared with 1.3 hours. (See table 1.)

Care of Household Children for the period 2014-18

   --Adults living in households with children under age 6 spent
     an average of 2.1 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--50 minutes per day. Primary childcare is childcare
     that is done as a main activity, such as providing physical
     care or reading to children. (See table 9.)

   --On an average day, among adults living in households with
     children under age 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.)

   --Among adults living with children under age 6, those who were
     not employed spent over an hour more per day caring for and
     helping household children than did employed adults--2.8 hours
     versus 1.7 hours. (See tables 8B and 8C.)

   --Adults living in households with at least one child under age
     6 spent an average of 5.4 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 age 6 was most commonly provided while doing leisure
     activities (2.0 hours) or household activities (1.4 hours).
     (See table 10.)

   --Adults living in households with children under age 6 spent
     more time providing primary childcare on an average weekday
     (2.2 hours) than on an average weekend day (2.0 hours). However,
     they spent less time providing secondary childcare on weekdays
     than on weekend days--4.4 hours, compared with 7.6 hours. (See
     tables 9 and 10.)

Additional Data 

ATUS 2018 data files are available for users to do their own tabulations and
analyses. In accordance with BLS and Census Bureau policies that protect the
privacy of survey respondents, identifying information does not appear on the
data files. The 2018 data files are available on the BLS website at 
www.bls.gov/tus/data.htm.