Google Answers Logo
View Question
 
Q: Average free time for Americans per week ( Answered 4 out of 5 stars,   1 Comment )
Question  
Subject: Average free time for Americans per week
Category: Reference, Education and News > Consumer Information
Asked by: zoomnini-ga
List Price: $15.00
Posted: 12 Apr 2003 18:03 PDT
Expires: 12 May 2003 18:03 PDT
Question ID: 189777
I would like a breakdown for the average free time the typical
American has each week.
Please include the breakouts for as many categories of time usage as
you can find. The preferred answer will show me:
Avg Hours of Usage per week for:
Sleep, Work, Commuting, Errands, Phone, Email, Bills, Chores, Meals,
TV/News/Mags, Getting ready for bed/work time, and then I can extract
the free time left over. If you can only find avg work time per week,
it won't help me a great deal.

Thanks and Happy Hunting.

Request for Question Clarification by bobbie7-ga on 12 Apr 2003 20:34 PDT
The exact information you require will be included in the American
Time Use Survey.  Unfortunately this is a first time survey and the
results will not be published until mid-2004.

What is the American Time Use Survey?  

“The American Time Use Survey is a nationwide survey that collects
information about how people use their time. The purpose of this
survey is to fully understand people's daily activities, including
where they spend their time, what they spend their time doing, and who
they spend their time with. “

Does anyone else collect this information?  

“Currently, no other public or private agency collects time use data.
The American Time Use Survey will be the first ongoing survey and the
first Federal survey to collect time use data in the United States.”

When will the survey results be available?  

“Data collection will begin in January of 2003. However, since a full
one-year sample is necessary before meaningful analyses can begin, the
first annual estimates will not be published until mid-2004.”

U.S. Department of Labor: Bureau of Labor Statistics  
http://www.bls.gov/tus/respinfo.htm


This is the information I was able to locate:

- Median number of work hours per week and median number of leisure
hours per week for 2001 from one source.

From a different study - 2002:
 
- U.S. daily work - average hours 
- time spent commuting to and from work daily averages 
-  time spent on the computer each week 
-  time spent on the phone each week
-  time spent watching TV each week


A 1998 Canadian study - Average time spent per day on activities by
gender

This table includes:
 
Paid work 
Activities related to paid work 
Travel
Unpaid work 
Household work and related activities 
Cooking/washing up 
House cleaning and laundry
Maintenance and repair 
Other household work
Shopping 
Primary child care 
Civic and volunteer activities 
Night sleep
Meals
Other personal activities
Socializing
Restaurant meals 
Television, reading and other passive leisure
Watching television 
Reading books, magazines, newspapers
Other passive leisure
Sports, movies and other entertainment events
Active leisure
Active sports
Other active leisure

Would any of the above information interest you?

Thanks
Bobbie7

Request for Question Clarification by bobbie7-ga on 12 Apr 2003 20:49 PDT
After further research I uncovered the following information:

1997-1999 study on Americans

- minutes per day Americans spent caring for their kids or pets.
- hours per night an average adult slept
- minutes to get showered, dressed and groomed (man)
- minutes to get showered, dressed and groomed (woman)
- minutes per day in food preparation (man)
- minutes per day in food preparation (woman)

Thanks
Bobbie7

Clarification of Question by zoomnini-ga on 13 Apr 2003 07:42 PDT
bobbie7-ga,

thanks for your effort. i spent a considerable amount of time on the
department of labor site and didn't stumble on to the time use survey.
good work. a projected 2004 survey results release is a terrible
tease.

if you provide the information from the 4 other sources you listed
below, i will probably be able to compare and contrast them enough to
determine a reasonably reliable 'free time' number.

if you are able/allowed, could you show me some of the search methods
you used? i am trying to improve in my researching skills and any
advice would be helpful.

let me know if there was any other clarification you needed.

thanks much.
Answer  
Subject: Re: Average free time for Americans per week
Answered By: bobbie7-ga on 13 Apr 2003 10:05 PDT
Rated:4 out of 5 stars
 
Hello zoomnini-ga,

Thank you for your question.

My search returned the following results for time use by Americans.
The search method I used is included at the end of my answer.


=================

Americans Spending More Time on Themselves, Says NPD Study
http://www.npd.com/press/releases/press_990823.htm

-  51 minutes to get showered, dressed and groomed (man)
-  55 minutes to get showered, dressed and groomed (woman)
-  13 minutes per day in food preparation (man)
-  45 minutes per day in food preparation (woman)
-  17 minutes per day spent exercising
-   3 hours per day on entertainment at home or away from home
-   8 hours of sleep on the weekdays
-   8 1/2 hours of sleep on the weekends

“The number of minutes per capita spent exercising is up 8% for the
last three years compared to earlier in the decade. Today, a little
over one out of five adults exercise on a regular basis, spending an
average of 81 minutes per session. Since 80% of adults do not
exercise, the average number of minutes spent by all adults is 17
minutes per day.”

“We are taking longer to "get ready for the day." Time spent on
grooming is up 7% compared to the early '90s. Today's man takes 51
minutes to get showered, dressed and groomed. Surprisingly, today's
woman takes only slightly longer – 55 minutes.”

“On average, we spend nearly three hours per day on entertainment at
home or away from home.”

“According to the study, the average American now gets almost eight
hours of sleep on the weekdays, compared to less than seven and a half
hours averaged from 1992 through 1994. And we are taking about a
half-hour more sleep time on the weekends, as well. We've gone from an
average of eight hours of sleep on the weekend to 8 1/2 hours.”

“During 1997 through 1999, the average woman spent 45 minutes per day
preparing meals. By contrast, the average man spent only 13 minutes
per day preparing meals.”

Time Lines: How Americans Spent Their Time During the '90s is a
special report compiled by The NPD Group.
http://www.npd.com/press/releases/press_990823.htm


=================

How Americans Spent their Time in the '90s  More sleep, fewer chores?
by Beth Rowen

- 120 minutes per day Americans spent caring for their kids or pets.
- 7.8 hours per night an average adult slept

“Many working parents would probably find this hard to believe, but
the study showed that adults spent more time per day with their kids
and pets later in the decade than they did early on. In the 1992-1994
survey, parents spent an average of 108 minutes per day caring for
their kids or pets, while the number jumped to 120 in the 1997-1999
study.”

“The average adult slept 7.8 hours a night in the latter part of the
'90s, up from 7.4 hours a night earlier in the decade. Instead of
sacrificing shut-eye, Americans cut back on household chores, food
preparation, grocery shopping, and believe it or not, working.”

Infoplease: Time Use
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/timeusespot.html


=================

THE HARRIS POLL #38, August 8, 2001 

- 20 work hours per week
- 50 leisure hours per week
 
WORK HOURS PER WEEK
Year      Median Number of Work Hours
 
2001      20
2000      20
1999      20
1998      19
1997      20


HOURS AVAILABLE FOR LEISURE PER WEEK
Year      Median Number of Leisure Hours
 
2001      50
2000      50
1999      50
1998      50
1997      51


“The time that people claim to spend on their work, including paid
work, keeping house and school remains unchanged at 50 hours per
week.”

“The amount of time available to people to relax, watch TV, take part
in sports or hobbies, go swimming, go to the movies, theatre, concerts
or other forms of entertainment, or to get together with friends also
remains unchanged at 20 hours per week.”

Harris Interactive: Poll
http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/index.asp?PID=249


=================

New York, January 6, 2003 — RoperASW today announced results of a
comparative analysis of Saudi Arabian and U.S. priorities and cultures
based on its "2002 Worldwide Time Study."

-  8.3 hours work daily
-  1.2 hours daily spent commuting to and from work 
-  9.9 hours spent on the computer each week 
-  6.7 hours spent on the phone each week
-  20 hours spent watching TV each week
-  Americans spend 37% of their time per week on hobbies 

Google Cache: RoperASW
http://216.239.57.100/search?q=cache:ftgTp2bl0gQC:www.roperasw.com/newsroom/press/p0301001.shtml+How+Americans+Spent+Their+Time&hl=es&ie=UTF-8


=================

There is a graph on page 3 of this publication that illustrates
average weekly number of hours spent using the following media:
Internet, TV and Radio
http://www.roperasw.com/newsroom/newsletters/medi0210.pdf


=================

Canada

1998 Canadian Study - Average Time Spent On Activities by Sex

The results of this survey can be found at the following direct link.
Due to the length of the survey I was not able to copy it here.
http://www.statcan.ca/english/Pgdb/famil36a.htm


=================


Time Use and Leisure Behavior

“What changes will take place in the ways in which people use time,
the sequencing of daily activity and activity across the life cycle,
and demographic correlates of time use? What are the affective aspects
of time, such as feeling rushed?”

This eight page publication provides important data as well. There is
a good table on page four.

Penn State: The School of Hotel, Restaurant & Recreation Management

http://www.hrrm.psu.edu/nps/Time%20Use%20and%20Leisure%20Behavior.pdf


=================

Search Method Used: I used the following words in different
combinations in my search on Google.

ways in which people spend their time
Time use U.S.
Americans use of time
Time study 
Average time spent on activities site:.com
Distribution of free time of Americans
U.S. Time Use Survey
Americans free time spent hours a week   
TV eat sleep work commuting minutes per day +Americans


I hope you find this helpful and if any part of my answer is unclear,
please don't hesitate to ask for clarification.  I'll be happy to be
of further assistance!


Best Regards,
Bobbie7-ga
zoomnini-ga rated this answer:4 out of 5 stars
Just shy of a perfect, great answer. I got a good portion of what I
wanted. FYI, 2 of the links were using the same study.

Comments  
Subject: Re: Average free time for Americans per week
From: neilzero-ga on 13 Apr 2003 20:02 PDT
 
Most Americans fillup the available time all but 20 or 30 hours per
week. I would tend not to reguard it as free time if I have made firm
commitments for it. Did you intend to average in the elderly, sick,
and small children or are you looking only for data on persons
employed full time. If the latter, do you want to exclude a-typical
days such as vacation, personel days and usual days off?
 I thought the Canadian long list was interesting. Hundreds more are
possible, but over lap would occur, and different people would break
it down differently, so the subject is a matter of opinion over a wide
range.     Neil

Important Disclaimer: Answers and comments provided on Google Answers are general information, and are not intended to substitute for informed professional medical, psychiatric, psychological, tax, legal, investment, accounting, or other professional advice. Google does not endorse, and expressly disclaims liability for any product, manufacturer, distributor, service or service provider mentioned or any opinion expressed in answers or comments. Please read carefully the Google Answers Terms of Service.

If you feel that you have found inappropriate content, please let us know by emailing us at answers-support@google.com with the question ID listed above. Thank you.
Search Google Answers for
Google Answers  


Google Home - Answers FAQ - Terms of Service - Privacy Policy