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American Time Use Survey
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Table A-6A. Time spent in primary activities and the percent of married mothers and fathers who did the activities on an average day by employment status, average for the combined years 2015-19 Own household child under 18
Activity Average hours per day spent in primary activities(1) Percent doing the activity on an average day
Married mothers Married fathers(2) Married mothers Married fathers(2)
Employed full time Employed part time Not employed Employed full time Not employed Employed full time Employed part time Not employed Employed full time Not employed

Total, all activities

 24.00 24.00 24.00 24.00 24.00 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Personal care activities

 9.18 9.22 9.61 8.71 9.89 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 99.9

Sleeping(3)

 8.36 8.52 8.94 8.11 9.27 100.0 99.9 99.9 100.0 99.9

Household activities

 1.87 2.69 3.81 1.23 2.32 88.9 94.3 96.4 68.6 80.7

Housework

 0.73 1.04 1.57 0.22 0.61 48.4 63.5 73.4 19.4 41.4

Food preparation and cleanup

 0.83 1.22 1.79 0.38 0.77 77.5 86.9 91.6 49.1 60.6

Lawn and garden care

 0.05 0.08 0.10 0.22 0.29 3.7 5.9 8.2 10.5 14.8

Purchasing goods and services

 0.48 0.55 0.60 0.33 0.50 49.1 52.9 51.6 38.7 42.3

Grocery shopping

 0.14 0.17 0.22 0.07 0.17 17.1 22.0 24.8 8.9 18.9

Consumer goods purchases, except grocery shopping

 0.27 0.29 0.32 0.21 0.25 35.4 37.9 33.9 31.0 25.4

Caring for and helping household members

 1.40 1.91 2.66 0.91 1.37 76.3 81.9 85.5 59.6 62.4

Caring for and helping household children

 1.37 1.89 2.63 0.88 1.33 74.5 81.0 84.8 58.1 59.0

Physical care

 0.59 0.69 0.99 0.28 0.38 55.4 61.7 72.0 36.9 35.9

Education-related activities

 0.10 0.23 0.27 0.06 0.17 11.3 21.0 20.5 6.8 13.3

Reading to/with children

 0.05 0.08 0.09 0.03 0.03 11.3 16.0 16.1 7.9 6.0

Playing/doing hobbies with children

 0.27 0.38 0.60 0.29 0.43 16.6 22.0 30.2 18.6 18.0

Working and work-related activities(4)

 5.17 2.94 0.07 6.25 0.40 69.0 58.9 3.1 75.0 12.6

Working(4)

 5.16 2.90 0.02 6.22 (5)- 68.8 58.0 0.7 74.6 1.2

Leisure and sports

 2.89 3.30 3.87 3.48 6.32 91.1 94.4 95.3 94.2 97.5

Socializing and communicating

 0.59 0.64 0.82 0.62 0.94 34.9 42.4 43.6 37.2 42.2

Watching television

 1.48 1.55 1.95 1.85 3.88 68.6 71.0 75.3 74.3 87.4

Participating in sports, exercise, and recreation

 0.19 0.25 0.25 0.28 0.32 17.1 21.4 19.1 19.2 20.2

Travel

 1.38 1.38 1.14 1.44 1.10 93.5 93.5 82.6 93.7 77.5

Travel related to caring for and helping household children

 0.25 0.32 0.31 0.13 0.22 42.4 48.5 44.0 25.2 30.8

Other activities, not elsewhere classified

 1.62 2.01 2.22 1.65 2.10 97.7 98.3 98.5 97.3 98.0

Footnotes
(1) A primary activity refers to an individual's main activity. Other activities done simultaneously are not included.
(2) Estimates for part-time workers are not shown because it is uncommon for fathers of household children to work part time.
(3) Includes naps and spells of sleeplessness.
(4) Estimates include a small amount of work time done by persons who do not meet the American Time Use Survey definition of employed.
(5) Estimate is suppressed because it does not meet the American Time Use Survey publication standards.

NOTE: Data refer to persons 15 years and over.
SOURCE: American Time Use Survey, Bureau of Labor Statistics

Table A-6B. Time spent in primary activities and the percent of married mothers and fathers who did the activities on an average day by employment status, average for the combined years 2015-19 Youngest own household child under age 6
Activity Average hours per day spent in primary activities(1) Percent doing the activity on an average day
Married mothers Married fathers(2) Married mothers Married fathers(2)
Employed full time Employed part time Not employed Employed full time Not employed Employed full time Employed part time Not employed Employed full time Not employed

Total, all activities

 24.00 24.00 24.00 24.00 24.00 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Personal care activities

 9.17 9.31 9.60 8.73 9.67 100.0 100.0 99.9 100.0 100.0

Sleeping(3)

 8.40 8.67 9.00 8.16 9.14 100.0 100.0 99.8 100.0 100.0

Household activities

 1.74 2.45 3.56 1.20 2.22 88.2 92.6 96.8 69.0 79.9

Housework

 0.65 0.92 1.46 0.23 0.74 45.3 60.9 71.9 20.9 42.6

Food preparation and cleanup

 0.81 1.20 1.74 0.39 0.81 77.9 87.1 92.5 51.0 65.8

Lawn and garden care

 0.04 0.04 0.08 0.17 0.23 2.5 3.9 6.5 9.1 11.6

Purchasing goods and services

 0.42 0.47 0.58 0.30 0.43 45.1 48.8 47.2 37.6 (4)-

Grocery shopping

 0.12 0.15 0.19 0.07 0.16 15.5 19.8 21.7 8.9 16.4

Consumer goods purchases, except grocery shopping

 0.23 0.25 0.33 0.19 0.24 31.3 34.0 32.4 29.7 23.7

Caring for and helping household members

 2.29 2.95 3.48 1.36 2.33 93.4 94.1 94.0 75.5 82.1

Caring for and helping household children

 2.27 2.94 3.46 1.34 2.30 92.9 94.1 93.8 74.7 79.4

Physical care

 1.13 1.29 1.45 0.49 0.77 83.7 88.8 89.1 57.9 (4)-

Education-related activities

 0.08 0.16 0.22 0.05 0.20 9.2 18.2 19.4 5.2 15.3

Reading to/with children

 0.08 0.15 0.12 0.06 0.06 20.8 30.8 22.5 14.0 10.2

Playing/doing hobbies with children

 0.61 0.80 0.96 0.53 0.95 35.6 43.8 46.3 33.3 (4)-

Working and work-related activities(5)

 4.94 2.73 0.07 6.09 0.45 67.0 57.7 3.4 73.6 16.0

Working(5)

 4.92 2.68 (6)- 6.07 (4)- 66.9 57.2 0.5 73.2 0.6

Leisure and sports

 2.52 3.06 3.49 3.31 5.88 88.7 91.3 94.8 93.7 98.2

Socializing and communicating

 0.60 0.62 0.76 0.66 0.87 35.3 40.1 41.3 37.8 (4)-

Watching television

 1.23 1.56 1.74 1.69 3.89 64.8 72.5 74.2 72.6 90.7

Participating in sports, exercise, and recreation

 0.17 0.23 0.22 0.29 0.26 15.6 19.1 16.7 17.8 17.6

Travel

 1.30 1.16 1.05 1.38 0.99 91.6 91.0 81.7 93.5 78.9

Travel related to caring for and helping household children

 0.30 0.31 0.30 0.14 0.22 48.3 49.9 43.5 26.6 36.1

Other activities, not elsewhere classified

 1.62 1.87 2.17 1.64 2.04 97.3 98.6 98.7 97.4 96.8

Footnotes
(1) A primary activity refers to an individual's main activity. Other activities done simultaneously are not included.
(2) Estimates for part-time workers are not shown because it is uncommon for fathers of household children to work part time.
(3) Includes naps and spells of sleeplessness.
(4) Estimate is suppressed because it does not meet the American Time Use Survey publication standards.
(5) Estimates include a small amount of work time done by persons who do not meet the American Time Use Survey definition of employed.
(6) Estimate is approximately zero.

NOTE: Data refer to persons 15 years and over.
SOURCE: American Time Use Survey, Bureau of Labor Statistics

Table A-6C. Time spent in primary activities and the percent of married mothers and fathers who did the activities on an average day by employment status, average for the combined years 2015-19 Youngest own household child age 6-17
Activity Average hours per day spent in primary activities(1) Percent doing the activity on an average day
Married mothers Married fathers(2) Married mothers Married fathers(2)
Employed full time Employed part time Not employed Employed full time Not employed Employed full time Employed part time Not employed Employed full time Not employed

Total, all activities

 24.00 24.00 24.00 24.00 24.00 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Personal care activities

 9.20 9.16 9.63 8.70 10.03 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 99.8

Sleeping(3)

 8.34 8.42 8.86 8.06 9.35 100.0 99.9 100.0 99.9 99.8

Household activities

 1.96 2.85 4.16 1.25 2.38 89.4 95.4 95.9 68.4 81.2

Housework

 0.78 1.12 1.72 0.22 0.53 50.6 65.2 75.5 18.3 40.6

Food preparation and cleanup

 0.85 1.24 1.86 0.36 0.75 77.2 86.7 90.3 47.5 57.4

Lawn and garden care

 0.06 0.10 0.13 0.26 0.32 4.5 7.2 10.5 11.6 16.8

Purchasing goods and services

 0.53 0.61 0.63 0.35 0.54 51.8 55.7 57.7 39.7 44.1

Grocery shopping

 0.15 0.18 0.25 0.07 0.17 18.3 23.4 29.0 9.0 20.5

Consumer goods purchases, except grocery shopping

 0.29 0.32 0.30 0.22 0.25 38.3 40.5 36.0 32.0 26.4

Caring for and helping household members

 0.78 1.22 1.53 0.54 0.77 64.3 73.7 73.8 46.6 50.0

Caring for and helping household children

 0.74 1.19 1.46 0.51 0.72 61.7 72.2 72.1 44.6 46.2

Physical care

 0.21 0.28 0.36 0.10 0.13 35.7 43.7 48.2 19.8 18.2

Education-related activities

 0.11 0.27 0.34 0.08 0.15 12.8 22.8 22.1 8.2 12.1

Reading to/with children

 0.02 0.03 0.03 0.01 (4)- 4.7 6.1 7.2 2.9 3.4

Playing/doing hobbies with children

 0.04 0.09 0.09 0.09 0.11 3.3 7.4 7.7 6.6 5.6

Working and work-related activities(5)

 5.34 3.08 0.07 6.38 (4)- 70.3 59.6 2.8 76.1 10.4

Working(5)

 5.32 3.04 (6)- 6.35 (4)- 70.1 58.6 0.9 75.7 1.6

Leisure and sports

 3.14 3.45 4.41 3.62 6.59 92.9 96.5 96.0 94.6 97.0

Socializing and communicating

 0.57 0.66 0.90 0.59 0.99 34.7 44.0 46.7 36.6 42.6

Watching television

 1.65 1.54 2.24 1.98 3.87 71.3 70.1 76.7 75.8 85.4

Participating in sports, exercise, and recreation

 0.20 0.27 0.29 0.27 0.35 18.1 22.9 22.5 20.3 21.8

Travel

 1.44 1.53 1.27 1.50 1.17 94.9 95.1 83.8 93.9 76.6

Travel related to caring for and helping household children

 0.22 0.32 0.32 0.13 0.22 38.3 47.6 44.6 24.1 27.4

Other activities, not elsewhere classified

 1.61 2.10 2.31 1.66 2.15 97.9 98.1 98.2 97.2 98.8

Footnotes
(1) A primary activity refers to an individual's main activity. Other activities done simultaneously are not included.
(2) Estimates for part-time workers are not shown because it is uncommon for fathers of household children to work part time.
(3) Includes naps and spells of sleeplessness.
(4) Estimate is suppressed because it does not meet the American Time Use Survey publication standards.
(5) Estimates include a small amount of work time done by persons who do not meet the American Time Use Survey definition of employed.
(6) Estimate is approximately zero.

NOTE: Data refer to persons 15 years and over.
SOURCE: American Time Use Survey, Bureau of Labor Statistics

 

Last Modified Date: June 25, 2020