American Time Use Survey Summary

For release 10:00 a.m. (ET) Thursday, June 23, 2022				USDL-22-1261

Technical information:	(202) 691-6339  *  atusinfo@bls.gov  *  www.bls.gov/tus
Media contact:		(202) 691-5902  *  PressOffice@bls.gov


			   AMERICAN TIME USE SURVEY -- 2021 RESULTS


In 2021, 68 percent of employed persons did some or all of their work at home on days they
worked, and 68 percent of employed persons did some or all of their work at their
workplace, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. 

 //ATUS sched Test via ZUNI3 4/28/2025//

These and other results from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) were released today. They
include the average amount of time per day in 2021 that individuals worked, did household
activities, and engaged in leisure and sports activities. Additionally, measures of the 
average time per day spent providing childcare--both as a primary (or main) activity and 
while doing other things are provided. For a detailed description of ATUS data and
methodology, see the Technical Note.

Working (by Employed Persons) in 2021

   --On days they worked, 38 percent of employed persons did some or all of their work at
     home and 68 percent of employed persons did some or all of their work at their 
     workplace. In 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, workers were less likely to work 
     at home (24 percent) and more likely to work at their workplace (82 percent) on days
     they worked. (See table 6.)

   --On average, those who worked at their workplace did so for 7.8 hours on days they 
     worked, and those who worked at home did so for 5.6 hours. These averages include all
     times working at home, whether or not the work was done on a scheduled workday. 
     (See table 6.)

   --On days they worked, more than half of workers in management, business, and financial
     operations occupations and professional and related occupations did some or all of 
     their work at home (59 percent and 57 percent, respectively). Those employed in other
     occupations were less likely to work at home on days they worked. (See table 7.)

   --Among workers age 25 and over, those with an advanced degree were more likely to work
     at home than were persons with lower levels of educational attainment--67 percent of
     those with an advanced degree performed some work at home on days worked, compared 
     with 19 percent of those with a high school diploma and no college. Workers with an 
     advanced degree also were more likely to work on an average day than were those with
     a high school diploma and no college--74 percent, compared with 64 percent. 
     (See table 6.)

   --Employed women living with a child under age 6 worked an average of 4.5 hours per 
     day (about 31.5 hours per week). They performed 34 minutes per day less work for pay
     than employed women living in households with older children. (See table 8B.)

   --On days they worked, employed men worked 43 minutes more than employed women. This
     difference partly reflects women's greater likelihood of working part time. However,
     even among full-time workers (those usually working 35 hours or more per week), men
     worked more per day than women--8.4 hours, compared with 7.8 hours. (See table 4.)

   --On days they worked, women were more likely than men to do some or all of their 
     work at home--42 percent of women, compared with 35 percent of men. (See table 6.)

Household Activities in 2021

   --On an average day, 86 percent of women and 71 percent of men spent some time doing
     household activities, such as housework, cooking, lawn care, or household management.
     (See table 1.)

   --On the days they did household activities, women spent an average of 2.7 hours on 
     these activities, while men spent 2.2 hours. (See table 1.)

   --On an average day, 21 percent of men did housework--such as cleaning or laundry--
     compared with 49 percent of women. (See table 1.)

   --On average, more people engaged in housework on weekend days than on weekdays: 40 
     percent compared with 34 percent. Food preparation and cleanup was the only household
     activity that more people engaged in on weekdays than on weekend days (63 percent 
     compared with 59 percent). (See table 2.)

Leisure and Sports Activities in 2021

   --On an average day, nearly everyone age 15 and over (96 percent) engaged in some sort
     of leisure and sport activity, such as watching TV, socializing, or exercising. Men
     spent more time in these activities than did women (5.6 hours, compared with 4.9 
     hours). (See table 1.)

   --On average, adults age 75 and over spent 7.7 hours engaged in leisure and sports 
     activities per day--more than any other age group; 35- to 44-year-olds spent 3.9 
     hours engaged in leisure and sports activities per day--less than other age groups.
     (See table 11A.) 

   --Watching TV was the leisure and sport activity that occupied the most time (2.9 
     hours per day), accounting for over half of all leisure time, on average. 
     (See table 11A.)

   --Socializing and communicating, such as visiting with friends or attending or 
     hosting social events, and playing games and computer use for leisure were the next
     most common leisure and sports activities after watching TV. On an average day, 
     individuals spent 34 minutes socializing and communicating and 34 minutes playing 
     games and using a computer for leisure. They spent twice as much time socializing on
     weekend days (53 minutes) as on weekdays (26 minutes), and 5 minutes more playing 
     games and using the computer for leisure on weekend days than on weekdays.
     (See tables 11A and 11B.)

   --Time spent reading for personal interest varied greatly by age. Individuals age 75
     and over averaged 41 minutes of reading per day, whereas individuals ages 15 to 44
     read on average for 10 minutes or less per day. (See table 11A.)

   --Men were slightly more likely than women to participate in sports, exercise, or 
     recreation on any given day--23 percent, compared with 20 percent. On days they
     participated, men also spent more time doing these activities than did women--1.7
     hours, compared with 1.2 hours. (See table 1.)

   --Employed adults living in households with no children under age 18 engaged in 
     leisure and sports activities for 4.6 hours per day, nearly an hour and a half more
     than did employed adults living with a child under age 6. (See table 8B.)

Care of Household Children in 2021

   --Adults living in households with children under age 6 spent an average of 2.2 hours
     per day providing primary childcare to household children. Adults living in 
     households where the youngest child was between the ages of 6 and 17 spent about 
     one-third as much time providing primary childcare to household children--42 minutes
     per day. Primary childcare is childcare that is done as a main activity, such as
     providing physical care or reading to children. (See table 9.)

   --On an average day, among adults living in households with children under age 6,
     women spent 1.2 hours providing physical care (such as bathing or feeding a child)
     to household children; by contrast, men spent 31 minutes providing physical care.
     (See table 9.)

   --On average, among adults living with children under age 6, those who were not 
     employed spent nearly an hour more per day caring for and helping household children
     than did employed adults--2.7 hours versus 1.8 hours. (See tables 8B and 8C.)

   --Adults living in households with at least one child under age 13 spent an average
     of 5.5 hours per day providing secondary childcare--that is, they had at least one
     child in their care while doing activities other than primary childcare. Secondary
     childcare provided by adults living in households with children under age 13 was 
     most commonly provided while doing leisure activities (2.0 hours) or household 
     activities (1.4 hours). (See table 10.)

   --On an average day, among adults living in households where the youngest child was
     ages 6 to 12, women spent 2.4 hours more than men providing secondary childcare 
     (6.3 hours for women and 3.9 hours for men). In households with children under age
     6, women spent 1.8 hours more than men providing secondary childcare on an average
     day (6.6 hours for women and 4.8 hours for men). (See table 10.)

Additional Data 

ATUS 2021 data files are available for users to do their own tabulations and analyses.
In accordance with BLS and Census Bureau policies that protect the privacy of survey 
respondents, personally identifying information does not appear on the data files. The
2021 data files are available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/tus/data.htm.