American Time Use Survey Summary

For release 10:00 a.m. (ET) Thursday, June 25, 2026	                                   USDL-26-1022

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


                           AMERICAN TIME USE SURVEY - 2025 RESULTS


In 2025, 35 percent of employed people did some or all of their work at home on days they worked,
and 70 percent of employed people did some or all of their work at their workplace, the U.S. 
Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. 

These and other results from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) were released today. They include
the average amount of time per day in 2025 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 are provided.
For a detailed description of ATUS data and methodology, see the Technical Note.

Working (by Employed People) in 2025

 --On days they worked, full-time employed people worked an average of 8.1 hours. They worked 8.5
   hours on an average weekday and 5.5 hours on an average weekend day. (See table 4.)

 --Many more people worked on weekdays than on weekend days: 81 percent of employed people worked
   on an average weekday, compared with 30 percent on an average weekend day. (See table 4.)

 --Among those who worked on an average weekend day, those with lower levels of education worked
   more hours than those with a bachelor's degree or higher. On weekend days they worked, high
   school graduates with no college spent 6.4 hours working, compared with 4.0 hours for those with 
   a bachelor's degree or higher. (See table 4.)

 --On days they worked, 35 percent of employed people did some or all of their work at home and 70
   percent of employed people did some or all of their work at their workplace. Employed women (38
   percent) were more likely to work at home than employed men (31 percent). (See table 6.)

 --Among workers age 25 and over, those with higher levels of education were more likely to work at
   home than were those who had less education. Fifty-one percent of employed people with a 
   bachelor's degree or higher performed some work at home on days worked, compared with 19 percent
   of those with a high school diploma and no college. Workers with a bachelor's degree or higher
   were also more likely to work on an average day than were those with a high school diploma and
   no college--72 percent, compared with 63 percent. (See table 6.)

Household Activities in 2025

 --On an average day, 81 percent of people engaged in household activities--such as housework,
   cooking, lawn care, or household management--spending about 2 hours on these activities.
   (See table 1.)

 --Eighty-seven percent of women and 75 percent of men spent some time doing household activities
   on an average day. On the days they did household activities, women spent an average of 2.8
   hours on these activities, while men spent 2.1 hours doing so. (See table 1.)

 --Time spent doing household activities increased with age. On an average day, individuals ages 15
   to 19 spent 43 minutes engaged in household activities, while those age 65 and over spent 2.7
   hours doing so. (See table 3.) 

 --Among adults living with children under age 18, those who were not employed spent over an hour
   more than those who were employed doing household activities on an average day--3.1 hours
   compared to 1.7 hours. (See tables 8B and 8C.) 

 --More people engaged in housework on weekend days than on weekdays, on average--40 percent,
   compared with 35 percent. However, people were slightly more likely to do food preparation and
   cleanup on weekdays than weekend days--66 percent, compared to 63 percent. (See table 2.)

Leisure and Sports Activities in 2025

 --Nearly everyone age 15 and over (95 percent) engaged in some sort of leisure and sport activity,
   such as watching TV, socializing, or exercising on an average day. Men were slightly more likely
   to engage in leisure and sports activities than women (96 percent compared with 94 percent) and
   also spent more time in these activities than did women (5.6 hours, compared with 4.8 hours).
   (See table 1.)

 --On average, adults age 75 and over spent 7.4 hours engaged in leisure and sports activities per
   day--more than any other age group. Those ages 35 to 44 averaged 3.9 hours doing leisure and
   sports activities per day--less than all other age groups. (See table 11A.) 

 --Watching TV was the leisure and sports activity that occupied the most time (2.6 hours per day),
   accounting for half of all leisure time, on average (5.2 hours). (See table 1 and table 11A.) 

 --People were less likely to engage in socializing and communicating on an average day in 2025
   than in 2015--30 percent compared with 38 percent. They also spent less time in these activities
   in 2025 than in 2015--35 minutes compared with 41 minutes. (See tables 1 and 11A.)

 --Individuals spent more time playing games or using a computer on an average day in 2025 than
   they did in 2015 (37 minutes compared with 25 minutes). This includes time spent playing board
   games, video games, using social media, and other computer activities done for leisure.
   Individuals ages 15 to 19 spent 1.5 hours playing games or using a computer for leisure on an
   average day in 2025, more than any other age group. (See table 11A.)

 --Employed adults living in households with no children under age 18 engaged in leisure and sports
   activities for 4.5 hours per day, over an hour more than did employed adults living with a child
   under age 6 (3.2 hours). (See table 8B.)

Care of Household Children in 2025

 --Adults living in households with children under age 6 spent an average of 2.3 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 one-third 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 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 an
   hour more than men providing primary childcare to household children--2.8 hours compared to 1.7
   hours. This includes providing physical care, such as bathing or feeding a child (1.3 hours
   compared to 38 minutes) and travel related to care of household children (16 minutes compared to
   10 minutes), among other activities. (See table 9.)

 --On average, 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--3.3
   hours versus 1.7 hours. (See tables 8B and 8C.)

 --Adults living in households with at least one child under age 13 spent an average of 5.1 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 13 was most commonly provided while doing leisure activities
   (1.9 hours) or household activities (1.2 hours). (See table 10.)

 --Adults living in households with children under age 6 spent more time providing primary
   childcare on an average weekday than weekend day (2.4 hours and 2.0 hours). However, they spent
   less time providing secondary childcare on weekdays (4.2 hours) than on weekend days
   (7.7 hours). (See tables 9 and 10.)

Additional Data 

ATUS 2025 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,
personally identifying information does not appear on the data files. The 2025 data files are
available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/tus/data.htm.


 ____________________________________________________________________________________________
|                                                                                            |
|                             Federal Government Shutdown                                    |
|                                                                                            |
| Some agencies of the federal government--including the Bureau of Labor Statistics--were    |
| shut down or operating at reduced staffing levels from October 1, 2025 through November    |
| 12, 2025.                                                                                  |
|                                                                                            |
| All American Time Use Survey (ATUS) operations were suspended from October 1 through       |
| November 12. No call attempts were made and no interviews were completed during the        |
| shutdown. Because ATUS interviews are conducted every day and collect time diaries about   |
| "yesterday"--that is, the day prior to the interview day--there are no ATUS data for       |
| September 30 through November 11. Data collection resumed on November 13.                  |
|                                                                                            |
| The shutdown primarily affected ATUS data for the fourth quarter of 2025, as nearly all of |
| the missing time diaries were in this period. ATUS estimates included in this news release |
| have been weighted such that the time diaries for November 12 through December 30          |
| represent all days in the quarter, including those missing because of the shutdown. For    |
| information on the ATUS weights, please see the Technical Note.                            |
|                                                                                            |
| It is possible that ATUS estimates for 2025 or for the fourth quarter of 2025 could have   |
| been affected by the loss of data due to the shutdown. If people's time use in October and |
| early November 2025 differed from their time use in the remainder of the year, ATUS        |
| estimates would fail to account for this difference. For example, people who were affected |
| by the shutdown may have modified how they spent their time, but the estimates would not   |
| capture this. Any seasonal differences in activities between these periods could also      |
| affect the estimates, although ATUS data historically have exhibited minimal seasonality.  |
| It is not possible to quantify the effect of the shutdown on the ATUS estimates.           |
|                                                                                            |
| Additional information is available at                                                     |
| www.bls.gov/tus/notices/2026/october2025shutdown.htm.                                      |
|____________________________________________________________________________________________|