U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

American Time Use Survey

Caring for and Helping Household Members

Caring for and helping household members includes time spent doing activities to care for or help any child (under age 18) or adult living in the household.

Caring for and helping household children includes time spent providing physical care, playing with children, reading to children, assisting with homework, taking care of children’s health needs, and doing other activities to care for and help household children under 18. Caring for and helping household adults includes a range of activities done to benefit adult members of households, such as providing physical and medical care, obtaining medical services, and assisting with paperwork.

For a more detailed description of this activity category, see the ATUS 2011 Technical Note.

Tables on this page:

Other sources of ATUS data

Caring for and helping household members on weekdays and weekend days in 2011

Time spent caring for and helping household members (1) and percent of the civilian population caring for and helping household members, averages per day on weekdays and weekends, 2011 annual averages
Activity	Average hours per day, civilian population		Average percent engaged in the activity per day		Average hours per day for persons who engaged in the activity
Activity	Weekdays	Weekends and holidays (2)	Weekdays	Weekends and holidays (2)	Weekdays	Weekends and holidays (2)
Total, caring for and helping household members	.54	.42	25.8	21.3	2.10	1.99
Caring for and helping household children	.41	.35	22.1	17.6	1.86	2.02
Caring for and helping household children (except activities related to education and health)	.35	.34	21.4	17.1	1.62	1.98
Activities related to household children's education	.05	.01	5.0	1.0	1.03	1.36
Activities related to household children's health	.01	~0	.9	.3	1.35	.62
Caring for and helping household adults	.03	.03	5.0	4.7	.66	.71
Caring for household adults	.02	.02	1.8	1.8	1.15	1.04
Helping household adults	.01	.01	3.6	3.1	.34	.47
Travel related to caring for and helping household members	.01	.04	15.3	6.3	.64	.58

Footnotes:
(1) All estimates refer to caring for and helping household members done as a main (primary) activity. Other activities done simultaneously are not included.
(2) Holidays are New Year's Day, Easter, Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. In 2011, data were not collected about Christmas Day.
~0 Estimate is approximately zero.
NOTE: Data refer to persons 15 years and over.

These and other detailed activity estimates are also available in:

Table A-2: Time spent in detailed primary activities, and percent of the civilian population engaging in each detailed primary activity category, averages per day by sex on weekdays and weekends, 2011 annual averages (PDF)

For a further description of ATUS data and methodology, see the ATUS 2011 Technical Note.

Caring for and helping household members done by men and women in 2011

Time spent caring for and helping household members (1) and percent of the civilian population caring for and helping household members, averages per day by sex, 2011 annual averages
Activity	Average hours per day, civilian population			Average percent engaged in the activity per day			Average hours per day for persons who engaged in the activity
Activity	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
Total, caring for and helping household members	.51	.33	.67	24.4	19.5	29.1	2.08	1.70	2.31
Caring for and helping household children	.39	.24	.54	20.8	15.7	25.6	1.90	1.54	2.10
Caring for and helping household children (except activities related to education and health)	.34	.21	.47	20.1	15.0	25.0	1.71	1.41	1.88
Activities related to household children's education	.04	.02	.06	3.8	2.4	5.1	1.05	.97	1.09
Activities related to household children's health	.01	.01	.01	.7	.2	1.2	1.26	(2)	1.03
Caring for and helping household adults	.03	.03	.04	4.9	4.7	5.1	.67	.57	.77
Caring for household adults	.02	.01	.03	1.8	1.4	2.3	1.12	.99	1.19
Helping household adults	.01	.01	.01	3.4	3.5	3.3	.37	.38	.37
Travel related to caring for and helping household members	.08	.06	.10	12.7	9.9	15.3	.63	.64	.62

Footnotes:
(1) All estimates refer to caring for and helping household members done as a main (primary) activity. Other activities done simultaneously are not included.
(2) Estimate is suppressed because it does not meet the American Time Use Survey standard for quality and reliability.
NOTE: Data refer to persons 15 years and over.

These and other detailed activity estimates are also available in:

Table A-1. Time spent in detailed primary activities and percent of the civilian population engaging in each detailed primary activity category, averages per day by sex, 2011 annual averages (PDF)

For a further description of ATUS data and methodology, see the ATUS 2011 Technical Note.

Other sources of ATUS data

ATUS news releases

ATUS tables

ATUS charts

ATUS papers and publications

Last Modified Date: June 22, 2012