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Time spent in personal care activities averaged 9.8 hours per day in 2025

August 17, 2026

Time spent each day in personal care activities, including sleeping and grooming, averaged 9.8 hours in 2025. Women spent 10.0 hours in personal care activities; men, 9.6 hours. On average, men spent more time engaged in leisure and sports activities than women, 5.6 hours compared with 4.8 hours. Men's hours in work and work-related activities averaged 3.8 hours per day, while women averaged 2.8 hours.

Chart Image
Chart Data

Time spent in primary activities, average hours per day, by sex, 2025 annual averages
Activity	Total	Men	Women
Total, all activities	24.00	24.00	24.00
Caring for and helping nonhousehold members	0.15	0.14	0.16
Telephone calls, mail, and e-mail	0.19	0.13	0.25
Other activities, not elsewhere classified	0.27	0.28	0.27
Organizational, civic, and religious activities	0.28	0.25	0.31
Educational activities	0.44	0.41	0.47
Caring for and helping household members	0.49	0.36	0.61
Purchasing goods and services	0.69	0.61	0.77
Eating and drinking	1.21	1.24	1.18
Household activities	1.99	1.58	2.38
Working and work-related activities	3.32	3.82	2.84
Leisure and sports	5.16	5.58	4.76
Personal care activities	9.80	9.59	10.00

On an average day, women spent 2.4 hours on household activities (such as housework, cooking, lawn care, or household management), while men spent 1.6 hours engaged in these activities. Eating and drinking activities averaged approximately 1.2 hours per day for both men and women.

These data are from the American Time Use Survey. For more information, see "American Time Use Survey — 2025 Results." Also see charts on activities and time use. A primary activity refers to an individual's main activity. Other activities done simultaneously are not included. These data refer to people 15 years and over. Some activities are not done on a daily basis, and some are only done by a subset of the population.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Time spent in personal care activities averaged 9.8 hours per day in 2025 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2026/time-spent-in-personal-care-activities-averaged-9-8-hours-per-day-in-2025.htm (visited August 18, 2026).

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