For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Tuesday, June 27, 2017                       USDL-17-0880

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


                       AMERICAN TIME USE SURVEY -- 2016 RESULTS

In 2016, on days they worked, 22 percent of employed persons did some or all of their
work at home, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Among workers age
25 and over, those with an advanced degree were more likely to work at home than were
persons with less education--43 percent of workers with an advanced degree performed
some work at home on days worked, compared with 12 percent of those with a high school
diploma.

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 2016 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 2012-16 are provided.
For a detailed description of ATUS data and methodology, see the Technical Note.

Working (by Employed Persons) in 2016

   --On the days they worked, 83 percent of employed persons did some or all of
     their work at their workplace and 22 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 3.1 hours. (See table 6.)

   --The share of workers doing some or all of their work at home grew from
     19 percent in 2003--the first year the ATUS was conducted--to 22 percent
     in 2016. In this same period, the average time employed persons spent
     working at home on days they worked increased by 34 minutes (from 2.6
     hours to 3.1 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--43 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. Workers with an advanced degree also were more
     likely to work on an average day than were those with a high school
     diploma--73 percent, compared with 67 percent. (See table 6.)

   --On the days they worked, employed men worked 56 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--8.4 hours, compared with 7.8 hours. (See table 4.)

   --One-third of employed persons spent some time working on an average
     weekend day. Multiple jobholders were more likely to work on an
     average weekend day than were single jobholders--60 percent, compared
     with 30 percent. (See table 4.) 

Household Activities in 2016

   --On an average day, 85 percent of women and 69 percent of men spent some
     time doing household activities such as housework, cooking, lawn care,
     or financial and other 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, 21 percent of men did housework--such as cleaning or
     laundry--compared with 50 percent of women. Forty-five percent of men
     did food preparation or cleanup, compared with 70 percent of women. Men
     were slightly more likely to engage in lawn and garden care than were
     women--12 percent, compared with 8 percent. (See table 1.)

   --From 2003 to 2016, the share of men doing food preparation and cleanup
     on an average day increased from 35 percent to 45 percent, and the
     share of women engaging in food preparation and cleanup grew from
     66 percent to 70 percent.  (See table 1.)

   --From 2003 to 2016, the share of women doing housework on an average day
     decreased from 54 percent to 50 percent. The average time per day women
     spent doing housework declined from 58 minutes in 2003 to 52 minutes 
     in 2016. (See table 1.)

Leisure Activities in 2016

   --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 44 minutes per day more in these activities than
     did women (5.5 hours, compared with 4.8 hours). (See table 1.)

   --Watching TV was the leisure activity that occupied the most time (2.7
     hours per day), accounting for just over half of leisure time, on
     average, for those age 15 and over. The amount of time people spent
     watching TV varied by age. Those ages 15 to 44 spent the least amount
     of time watching TV, averaging around 2.0 hours per day, and those
     ages 65 and over spent the most time watching TV, averaging over 4.0
     hours per day. (See table 11A.)

   --Socializing and communicating, such as visiting with friends or attending
     or hosting social events, accounted for an average of 39 minutes per day,
     and was the next most common leisure activity after watching TV. People
     spent about twice as much time socializing on weekend days (59 minutes)
     as on weekdays (31 minutes). (See tables 11A and 11B.)

   --From 2003 to 2016, the percentage of people who participated in sports,
     exercise, or recreation on an average day rose from 17 percent to 21
     percent. (See table 1.)

   --Employed adults living in households with no children under age 18
     engaged in leisure and sports activities for 4.5 hours per day, 1.2
     hours more than employed adults living with a child under age 6.
     (See table 8B.)

Care of Household Children for the period 2012-16

   --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.)

   --Adults living in households with at least one child under age 6 spent an
     average of 5.3 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 (2.1 hours) or household activities (1.3 hours).
     (See table 10.)

   --Adults living in households with children under age 6 spent more time
     providing primary childcare on an average weekday (2.1 hours) than on
     an average weekend day (1.9 hours). However, they spent less time
     providing secondary childcare on weekdays than on weekend days--4.4 
     hours, compared with 7.4 hours. (See tables 9 and 10.)

Additional Data 

ATUS 2016 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 2016 data
files are available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/tus/data.htm.