Table 9. Time adults spent caring for household children as a primary activity by sex, age, and day of week, 2021 annual averages

Table 9. Time adults spent caring for household children as a primary activity by sex, age, and day of week, 2021 annual averages
Childcare activities	Average hours per day adults spent caring for household children
	Total			Weekdays			Weekends and holidays
	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
Children under age 18, total
Caring for household children as a primary activity	1.34	0.94	1.69	1.36	0.86	1.79	1.30	1.14	1.45
Physical care	0.45	0.26	0.61	0.45	0.23	0.63	0.46	0.31	0.58
Education-related activities	0.11	0.04	0.16	0.14	0.05	0.21	0.04	0.03	0.04
Reading to/with children	0.05	0.04	0.05	0.05	0.04	0.05	0.04	0.03	0.05
Talking to/with children	0.05	0.03	0.07	0.05	0.03	0.07	0.04	0.03	0.05
Playing/doing hobbies with children	0.33	0.31	0.35	0.29	0.25	0.31	0.43	0.42	0.43
Looking after children	0.07	0.06	0.08	0.07	0.04	0.08	0.09	0.09	0.08
Attending children's events	0.05	0.05	0.04	0.03	0.03	0.04	0.08	0.11	0.06
Travel related to care of household children	0.15	0.10	0.19	0.18	0.12	0.24	0.08	0.07	0.09
Other childcare activities	0.09	0.06	0.12	0.11	0.06	0.15	0.06	0.04	0.07

Youngest child ages 6 to 17
Caring for household children as a primary activity	0.70	0.45	0.91	0.75	0.42	1.03	0.58	0.51	0.64
Physical care	0.13	0.06	0.19	0.14	0.06	0.21	0.11	0.06	0.16
Education-related activities	0.12	0.06	0.18	0.16	0.07	0.24	0.03	(1)-	0.04
Reading to/with children	0.02	0.01	0.03	0.02	0.02	0.02	0.02	(1)-	0.03
Talking to/with children	0.06	0.02	0.09	0.06	0.01	0.09	0.05	0.03	0.06
Playing/doing hobbies with children	0.09	0.09	0.10	0.07	0.06	0.08	0.14	0.15	0.12
Looking after children	0.02	0.02	0.03	0.02	(1)-	0.02	0.03	0.02	0.03
Attending children's events	0.05	0.05	0.04	0.03	(2)-	0.03	0.08	0.09	0.07
Travel related to care of household children	0.13	0.09	0.17	0.15	0.09	0.20	0.07	0.07	0.08
Other childcare activities	0.08	0.05	0.10	0.09	0.05	0.12	0.06	0.06	0.06

Child under age 6
Caring for household children as a primary activity	2.21	1.59	2.75	2.18	1.44	2.80	2.27	1.91	2.62
Physical care	0.87	0.51	1.19	0.86	0.46	1.19	0.91	0.62	1.20
Education-related activities	0.09	0.03	0.13	0.10	0.03	0.17	0.04	(2)-	0.05
Reading to/with children	0.08	0.07	0.09	0.08	0.07	0.09	0.08	0.06	0.09
Talking to/with children	0.04	0.04	0.04	0.04	0.04	0.05	0.03	0.03	0.03
Playing/doing hobbies with children	0.65	0.59	0.69	0.57	0.52	0.62	0.81	0.75	0.87
Looking after children	0.14	0.11	0.16	0.12	0.08	0.16	0.16	0.18	0.15
Attending children's events	0.05	0.05	0.05	0.03	(1)-	0.05	0.09	0.13	0.05
Travel related to care of household children	0.18	0.12	0.23	0.22	0.15	0.29	0.09	0.07	0.10
Other childcare activities	0.11	0.06	0.16	0.14	0.08	0.19	0.06	0.03	0.08
Footnotes (1) Estimate is approximately zero. (2) Estimate is suppressed because it does not meet the American Time Use Survey publication standards.
NOTE: Includes persons 18 years and over living in households with children under 18, whether or not they provided childcare.

Table of Contents

Last Modified Date: February 13, 2025