American Time Use Survey Summary

For release 10:00 a.m. (ET) Thursday, June 26, 2025	                                 USDL-25-1060

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


                           AMERICAN TIME USE SURVEY -- 2024 RESULTS
                           

In 2024, 87 percent of full-time employed people worked on an average weekday, compared with 
29 percent on an average weekend day, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. 
Full-time employed people averaged 8.4 hours of work on weekdays they worked, and 5.6 hours
on weekend days they worked. 

These and other results from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) were released today. They 
include the average amount of time per day in 2024 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 2024

 --On days they worked, full-time employed people worked an average of 8.1 hours. They 
   worked 8.4 hours on an average weekday and 5.6 hours on an average weekend day. (See 
   table 4.)

 --Many more people worked on weekdays than on weekend days: 80 percent of employed people 
   worked on an average weekday, compared with 30 percent on an average weekend day. Multiple 
   jobholders were more likely than single jobholders to work on an average weekend day--50 
   percent, compared to 29 percent. (See table 4.)

 --Among those who worked on an average weekend day, those with lower levels of education 
   worked more hours than those with higher levels of education. On weekend days they worked, 
   high school graduates with no college spent 6.4 hours working, compared with 4.2 hours for
   those with a bachelor's degree or higher. (See table 4.)

 --The share of employed people who spent time working at home on days worked was about the 
   same in 2024 (33 percent) as in 2023 (35 percent). However, the share of men who spent 
   some time working at home decreased from 34 percent in 2023 to 29 percent in 2024, while  
   the share of women who did so remained the same (36 percent). (See table 6.) 

 --Among workers age 25 and over, there was little difference in the likelihood to work on 
   an average day for those with a bachelor's degree or higher (68 percent) and those with 
   a high school diploma and no college (66 percent). However, workers with higher levels 
   of education were more likely to work at home than were those who had less education. 
   Fifty percent of employed people with a bachelor's degree or higher performed some work 
   at home on days worked, compared with 18 percent of those with a high school diploma and 
   no college. (See table 6.)  

 --On days they worked, employed men worked 33 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 2024

 --On an average day, 80 percent of people engaged in household activities--such as housework, 
   cooking, lawn care, or household management--spending about two hours on these activities. 
   (See table 1.)

 --Eighty-seven percent of women and 74 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 2.7 hours on these activities, while men spent 2.3 hours doing so. (See table 1.)

 --Among adults living with children under age 18, those who were not employed spent about an  
   hour more than those who were employed doing household activities on an average day--2.9 
   hours compared to 1.8 hours. (See tables 8B and 8C.) 

 --More people engaged in housework on weekend days than on weekdays, on average--41 percent, 
   compared with 36 percent. However, people were slightly more likely to do food preparation 
   and cleanup on weekdays than weekend days--64 percent, compared to 62 percent. (See table 2.)

Leisure and Sports Activities in 2024

 --Nearly everyone age 15 and over (94 percent) engaged in some sort of leisure and sport 
   activity, such as watching TV, socializing, or exercising on an average day. While men and 
   women were equally likely to engage in leisure and sports activities, men spent more time 
   in these activities than did women (5.5 hours, compared with 4.7 hours). (See table 1.)

 --On average, adults age 75 and over spent 7.6 hours engaged in leisure and sports activities 
   per day--more than any other age group. Those ages 35 to 44 averaged 3.8 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 over half of all leisure time, on average (5.1 hours per day). (See 
   tables 1 and 11A.)

 --Socializing and communicating, along with playing games and computer use for leisure, occupied
   the most amount of time spent in leisure and sports activities after watching TV. On an average 
   day, individuals spent 35 minutes socializing and communicating and 34 minutes playing games and 
   using a computer for leisure. They spent twice as much time socializing and communicating on 
   weekend days (56 minutes) than on weekdays (26 minutes). (See tables 1, 11A, and 11B.)

 --People were less likely to engage in socializing and communicating on an average day in 2024 
   than in 2014--30 percent compared with 38 percent. They also spent less time in these 
   activities in 2024 than in 2014--35 minutes compared with 43 minutes. (See table 1.)

 --Time spent reading for personal interest and playing games or using a computer for leisure 
   varied greatly by age. On an average day, individuals age 75 and over spent 46 minutes reading 
   while those ages 15 to 19 read for 9 minutes. Conversely, individuals ages 15 to 19 spent 1.3 
   hours playing games or using a computer for leisure on an average day, while those ages 75 and
   over spent 26 minutes doing so. (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, an hour and a half more than did employed adults 
   living with a child under age 6 (3.0 hours). (See table 8B.)

Care of Household Children in 2024

 --Adults living in households with children under age 6 spent an average of 2.5 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--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 an
   hour more than men providing primary childcare to household children--3.0 hours compared to 
   2.0 hours. This includes providing physical care, such as bathing or feeding a child (1.3 hours 
   compared to 42 minutes) and travel related to care of household children (19 minutes compared 
   to 9 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
   --3.2 hours versus 2.0 hours. (See tables 8B and 8C.)

 --Adults living in households with at least one child under age 13 spent an average of 5.2 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 (1.8 hours) or household activities (1.2 hours). (See table 10.)

 --Adults living in households with children under age 6 spent about the same amount of time 
   providing primary childcare on an average weekday and weekend day (2.6 hours and 2.4 hours). 
   However, they spent less time providing secondary childcare on weekdays (4.5 hours) than on 
   weekend days (7.5 hours). (See tables 9 and 10.)

Additional Data 

ATUS 2024 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 2024 data files are 
available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/tus/data.htm.