Table 8. Time spent in primary activities(1) for the civilian population 18 years and over by employment status, presence
and age of youngest household child, and sex, 2010 annual averages
Total
Average hours per day spent in primary activities
Activity Youngest household Youngest household No household
child under 6 child 6-17 children under 18
Total Men Women Total Men Women Total Men Women
Total, all activities(2)............................... 24.00 24.00 24.00 24.00 24.00 24.00 24.00 24.00 24.00
Personal care activities............................. 9.22 8.89 9.49 9.29 9.05 9.50 9.53 9.32 9.73
Sleeping.......................................... 8.56 8.32 8.76 8.52 8.37 8.64 8.68 8.61 8.75
Eating and drinking.................................. 1.14 1.20 1.08 1.20 1.27 1.14 1.31 1.34 1.28
Household activities................................. 1.83 1.30 2.28 1.94 1.43 2.40 1.85 1.54 2.15
Housework......................................... .67 .31 .97 .67 .26 1.04 .55 .26 .84
Food preparation and cleanup...................... .71 .35 1.02 .63 .35 .88 .53 .32 .74
Lawn and garden care.............................. .11 .19 .05 .18 .29 .09 .26 .37 .16
Household management.............................. .10 .11 .10 .12 .09 .15 .13 .11 .16
Purchasing goods and services........................ .79 .66 .89 .73 .55 .89 .76 .65 .87
Consumer goods purchases.......................... .41 .32 .48 .39 .27 .49 .37 .31 .42
Professional and personal care services........... .07 .05 .08 .06 .05 .07 .09 .07 .12
Caring for and helping household members............. 1.97 1.35 2.50 .80 .55 1.03 .05 .04 .06
Caring for and helping household children......... 1.74 1.17 2.22 .61 .41 .79 --- --- ---
Caring for and helping nonhousehold members.......... .13 .12 .14 .17 .15 .19 .25 .23 .28
Caring for and helping nonhousehold adults........ .06 .04 .07 .09 .09 .08 .09 .10 .08
Working and work-related activities.................. 4.01 5.35 2.89 4.11 4.98 3.33 3.44 3.83 3.06
Working........................................... 3.60 4.78 2.62 3.71 4.48 3.02 3.08 3.41 2.76
Educational activities............................... .15 .12 .17 .32 .26 .37 .26 .29 .23
Attending class................................... .06 (4) .06 .16 .15 .17 .11 .15 .08
Homework and research............................. .07 .05 .09 .13 .09 .16 .13 .13 .13
Organizational, civic, and religious activities...... .27 .28 .27 .39 .39 .40 .36 .27 .45
Religious and spiritual activities................ .13 .14 .13 .16 .16 .16 .16 .13 .20
Volunteering (organizational and civic activities) .10 .10 .10 .18 .17 .19 .16 .11 .20
Leisure and sports................................... 4.04 4.38 3.75 4.49 4.87 4.15 5.68 6.02 5.34
Socializing and communicating..................... .75 .70 .79 .67 .67 .67 .70 .68 .72
Watching television............................... 2.14 2.39 1.94 2.33 2.52 2.15 3.07 3.27 2.87
Participating in sports, exercise, and recreation .24 .34 .14 .29 .41 .18 .29 .38 .20
Telephone calls, mail, and e-mail.................... .09 .06 .12 .14 .11 .16 .20 .14 .25
Other activities, not elsewhere classified........... .36 .29 .42 .41 .38 .44 .32 .32 .31
Employed
Average hours per day spent in primary activities
Activity Youngest household Youngest household No household
child under 6 child 6-17 children under 18
Total Men Women Total Men Women Total Men Women
Total, all activities(2)............................... 24.00 24.00 24.00 24.00 24.00 24.00 24.00 24.00 24.00
Personal care activities............................. 9.01 8.83 9.23 9.00 8.76 9.24 9.15 8.97 9.34
Sleeping.......................................... 8.32 8.25 8.41 8.21 8.06 8.36 8.30 8.25 8.36
Eating and drinking.................................. 1.15 1.22 1.08 1.22 1.30 1.15 1.32 1.36 1.26
Household activities................................. 1.42 1.12 1.77 1.71 1.29 2.14 1.46 1.26 1.68
Housework......................................... .47 .24 .75 .52 .19 .87 .41 .22 .62
Food preparation and cleanup...................... .52 .31 .78 .55 .31 .80 .40 .27 .54
Lawn and garden care.............................. .10 .16 .03 .17 .26 .08 .20 .27 .12
Household management.............................. .11 .12 .09 .11 .10 .13 .12 .10 .14
Purchasing goods and services........................ .70 .60 .81 .71 .58 .86 .70 .60 .82
Consumer goods purchases.......................... .36 .28 .45 .38 .28 .48 .35 .30 .41
Professional and personal care services........... .06 .05 .06 .05 .05 .05 .06 .05 .07
Caring for and helping household members............. 1.64 1.26 2.08 .72 .56 .89 .04 .03 .05
Caring for and helping household children......... 1.43 1.12 1.79 .53 .41 .66 --- --- ---
Caring for and helping nonhousehold members.......... .10 .08 .11 .14 .12 .16 .21 .18 .24
Caring for and helping nonhousehold adults........ .03 .03 .04 .06 .06 .06 .08 .07 .09
Working and work-related activities.................. 5.65 6.37 4.80 5.67 6.35 4.96 5.70 5.98 5.39
Working........................................... 5.16 5.77 4.45 5.19 5.78 4.57 5.21 5.45 4.95
Educational activities............................... .09 .05 .13 .19 .16 .22 .20 .20 .20
Attending class................................... .02 ~0 .04 .09 .11 .08 .09 .12 .07
Homework and research............................. .05 .03 .08 .08 .04 .12 .09 .07 .12
Organizational, civic, and religious activities...... .21 .24 .18 .36 .37 .35 .27 .23 .33
Religious and spiritual activities................ .10 .11 .09 .16 .18 .14 .13 .11 .15
Volunteering (organizational and civic activities) .08 .10 .06 .16 .14 .17 .12 .09 .14
Leisure and sports................................... 3.65 3.91 3.34 3.80 4.07 3.52 4.54 4.81 4.24
Socializing and communicating..................... .67 .62 .72 .58 .57 .58 .65 .61 .70
Watching television............................... 1.91 2.13 1.66 1.97 2.11 1.83 2.32 2.50 2.12
Participating in sports, exercise, and recreation .22 .28 .15 .26 .36 .16 .27 .33 .21
Telephone calls, mail, and e-mail.................... .08 .05 .11 .11 .10 .13 .15 .11 .19
Other activities, not elsewhere classified........... .31 .27 .35 .37 .35 .38 .27 .28 .25
Not employed
Average hours per day spent in primary activities
Activity Youngest household Youngest household No household
child under 6 child 6-17 children under 18
Total Men Women Total Men Women Total Men Women
Total, all activities(2)............................... 24.00 24.00 24.00 24.00 24.00 24.00 24.00 24.00 24.00
Personal care activities............................. 9.69 9.16 9.87 10.02 10.04 10.00 10.07 9.91 10.21
Sleeping.......................................... 9.11 8.65 9.27 9.28 9.44 9.18 9.22 9.21 9.23
Eating and drinking.................................. 1.10 1.13 1.09 1.16 1.19 1.14 1.31 1.31 1.31
Household activities................................. 2.79 2.17 3.00 2.52 1.87 2.91 2.41 2.01 2.74
Housework......................................... 1.12 .61 1.29 1.04 .48 1.37 .75 .32 1.11
Food preparation and cleanup...................... 1.16 .54 1.37 .82 .48 1.03 .72 .42 .98
Lawn and garden care.............................. .13 .34 .06 .20 .37 .11 .36 .53 .21
Household management.............................. .10 .06 .11 .14 .06 .18 .16 .12 .19
Purchasing goods and services........................ 1.00 1.00 1.00 .79 .49 .97 .84 .74 .93
Consumer goods purchases.......................... .52 .50 .53 .43 .27 .52 .38 .33 .43
Professional and personal care services........... .11 .08 .12 .07 (4) .09 .14 .10 .17
Caring for and helping household members............. 2.75 1.75 3.10 1.01 .53 1.30 .06 .05 .07
Caring for and helping household children......... 2.48 1.43 2.84 .81 .40 1.05 --- --- ---
Caring for and helping nonhousehold members.......... .21 (4) .18 .25 (4) .24 .32 .31 .32
Caring for and helping nonhousehold adults........ .10 .08 .11 .14 (4) .12 .11 .14 .08
Working and work-related activities(3)............... .22 (4) .16 .27 .38 .21 .19 .26 .14
Working(3)........................................ ~0 (4) (4) .07 (4) (4) .02 ~0 .01
Educational activities............................... .29 (4) .22 .64 .61 .66 .35 .45 .26
Attending class................................... .13 (4) .08 .32 (4) .34 .14 .20 .09
Homework and research............................. .12 (4) .11 .24 .26 .23 .18 .23 .15
Organizational, civic, and religious activities...... .40 .43 .39 .46 (4) .47 .48 .34 .60
Religious and spiritual activities................ .21 (4) .18 .17 .11 .20 .22 .16 .26
Volunteering (organizational and civic activities) .14 (4) .16 .24 (4) .23 .22 .14 .28
Leisure and sports................................... 4.92 6.63 4.33 6.17 7.58 5.34 7.31 8.03 6.71
Socializing and communicating..................... .93 1.08 .88 .90 .99 .84 .76 .79 .73
Watching television............................... 2.67 3.66 2.34 3.20 3.91 2.78 4.15 4.56 3.80
Participating in sports, exercise, and recreation .27 (4) .14 .35 .58 .21 .31 .45 .18
Telephone calls, mail, and e-mail.................... .13 .10 .14 .19 .13 .22 .26 .20 .32
Other activities, not elsewhere classified........... .50 .42 .52 .52 .47 .54 .39 .40 .39
(1) A primary activity refers to an individual's main activity. Other activities done simultaneously are not
included.
(2) All major activity categories include related travel time. See Technical Note for activity category definitions.
(3) Estimates include a small amount of work time done by persons who do not meet the ATUS definition for employed.
(4) Estimate is suppressed because it does not meet the American Time Use Survey standard for quality and reliability.
~0 Estimate is approximately zero.
--- Not applicable.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics