Table A‐6. Time spent in primary activities and the percent of married mothers and fathers who did the activities on an average day by employment status : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Bureau of Labor Statistics > American Time Use Survey > Home

Table A-6A. Time spent in primary activities and the percent of married mothers and fathers who did the activities on an average day by employment status, average for the combined years 2013-17

Own household child under age 18
Activity	Average hours per day spent in primary activities(1)					Percent doing the activity on an average day
	Married mothers			Married fathers(2)		Married mothers			Married fathers(2)
	Employed full time	Employed part time	Not employed	Employed full time	Not employed	Employed full time	Employed part time	Not employed	Employed full time	Not employed
Total, all activities	24.00	24.00	24.00	24.00	24.00	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Personal care activities	9.15	9.27	9.66	8.69	9.75	100.0	100.0	99.9	100.0	99.9
Sleeping(3)	8.32	8.52	8.98	8.09	9.18	100.0	100.0	99.9	99.9	99.9
Household activities	1.86	2.62	3.68	1.22	2.21	87.7	93.6	96.0	67.6	77.0
Housework	0.72	1.07	1.57	0.23	0.58	47.9	64.0	72.4	18.8	37.7
Food preparation and cleanup	0.83	1.13	1.70	0.37	0.71	76.9	83.7	90.4	47.3	57.8
Lawn and garden care	0.06	0.10	0.10	0.22	0.31	4.5	6.8	8.3	10.5	15.4
Purchasing goods and services	0.50	0.60	0.65	0.33	0.55	47.9	53.6	52.5	37.5	42.4
Grocery shopping	0.13	0.18	0.22	0.07	0.17	17.2	22.5	24.7	8.9	17.1
Consumer goods purchases, except grocery shopping	0.29	0.32	0.32	0.21	0.26	34.9	38.0	34.0	29.8	26.5
Caring for and helping household members	1.35	1.78	2.63	0.91	1.46	75.2	82.7	86.2	58.7	64.9
Caring for and helping household children	1.32	1.75	2.59	0.89	1.40	73.5	81.9	85.6	56.7	62.9
Physical care	0.55	0.65	0.99	0.27	0.37	54.2	61.8	72.6	36.4	37.1
Education-related activities	0.11	0.21	0.27	0.07	0.16	11.8	19.9	22.2	7.8	13.5
Reading to/with children	0.04	0.08	0.09	0.03	0.04	10.4	14.9	15.5	7.2	7.3
Playing/doing hobbies with children	0.26	0.33	0.58	0.29	0.38	15.8	19.8	28.9	18.0	16.7
Working and work-related activities(4)	5.23	2.86	0.08	6.28	0.39	69.2	57.6	3.6	75.1	11.8
Working(4)	5.21	2.84	0.03	6.25	(5)-	69.1	57.0	0.8	74.8	1.9
Leisure and sports	2.95	3.35	3.89	3.52	6.44	91.5	95.4	94.9	93.8	97.4
Socializing and communicating	0.62	0.67	0.82	0.60	0.86	36.4	42.4	42.4	35.3	41.0
Watching television	1.51	1.57	2.03	1.92	4.05	69.8	72.0	75.9	75.0	87.8
Participating in sports, exercise, and recreation	0.18	0.24	0.24	0.29	0.34	16.1	20.2	19.1	18.4	19.1
Travel	1.33	1.41	1.16	1.41	1.06	93.9	93.5	82.5	93.8	76.3
Travel related to caring for and helping household children	0.24	0.31	0.33	0.13	0.20	41.3	49.0	44.6	25.3	34.7
Other activities, not elsewhere classified	1.64	2.11	2.26	1.64	2.13	98.2	98.3	98.7	97.2	97.2
Footnotes (1) A primary activity refers to an individual's main activity. Other activities done simultaneously are not included. (2) Estimates for part-time workers are not shown because it is uncommon for fathers of household children to work part time. (3) Includes naps and spells of sleeplessness. (4) Estimates include a small amount of work time done by persons who do not meet the American Time Use Survey definition of employed. (5) Estimate is suppressed because it does not meet the American Time Use Survey publication standards.
NOTE: Data refer to persons 15 years and over. SOURCE: American Time Use Survey, Bureau of Labor Statistics

Table A-6B. Time spent in primary activities and the percent of married mothers and fathers who did the activities on an average day by employment status, average for the combined years 2013-17

Youngest own household child under age 6
Activity	Average hours per day spent in primary activities(1)					Percent doing the activity on an average day
	Married mothers			Married fathers(2)		Married mothers			Married fathers(2)
	Employed full time	Employed part time	Not employed	Employed full time	Not employed	Employed full time	Employed part time	Not employed	Employed full time	Not employed
Total, all activities	24.00	24.00	24.00	24.00	24.00	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Personal care activities	9.18	9.28	9.63	8.66	9.51	100.0	100.0	99.9	100.0	100.0
Sleeping(3)	8.41	8.56	9.02	8.07	9.10	99.9	100.0	99.9	100.0	100.0
Household activities	1.71	2.46	3.39	1.18	1.92	86.6	92.3	95.8	66.9	74.3
Housework	0.66	1.00	1.44	0.25	0.57	43.7	64.5	70.7	21.2	33.2
Food preparation and cleanup	0.77	1.15	1.63	0.37	0.72	76.7	83.9	90.1	48.1	59.5
Lawn and garden care	0.05	0.04	0.07	0.18	0.16	3.4	3.0	6.7	9.0	10.6
Purchasing goods and services	0.45	0.56	0.62	0.32	0.61	44.1	52.2	48.8	37.3	38.0
Grocery shopping	0.12	0.18	0.18	0.07	0.20	14.3	20.7	21.2	9.1	16.9
Consumer goods purchases, except grocery shopping	0.26	0.29	0.35	0.20	0.28	32.2	36.9	33.5	29.4	21.4
Caring for and helping household members	2.16	2.69	3.43	1.33	2.29	93.2	93.1	94.7	72.9	80.0
Caring for and helping household children	2.14	2.67	3.41	1.30	2.28	92.8	93.1	94.6	71.8	79.1
Physical care	1.08	1.23	1.45	0.47	0.74	83.3	87.9	89.1	55.2	64.7
Education-related activities	0.07	0.12	0.23	0.05	0.14	8.4	15.9	20.2	6.0	11.5
Reading to/with children	0.07	0.14	0.12	0.05	0.07	18.8	27.5	21.0	12.4	13.0
Playing/doing hobbies with children	0.59	0.74	0.93	0.52	0.86	34.3	41.1	44.5	30.8	36.1
Working and work-related activities(4)	5.03	2.68	0.07	6.26	(5)-	66.8	56.1	3.9	74.7	14.0
Working(4)	5.00	2.66	0.03	6.23	(5)-	66.7	56.0	0.8	74.3	3.8
Leisure and sports	2.63	3.01	3.61	3.29	6.07	89.8	92.7	94.4	93.3	99.2
Socializing and communicating	0.64	0.65	0.80	0.64	0.96	36.2	41.6	41.8	37.0	41.3
Watching television	1.31	1.48	1.86	1.71	4.00	66.9	72.5	75.7	73.3	90.2
Participating in sports, exercise, and recreation	0.17	0.24	0.21	0.29	0.26	15.8	19.7	16.9	17.4	16.3
Travel	1.28	1.25	1.06	1.35	0.93	91.7	91.5	80.9	93.8	76.9
Travel related to caring for and helping household children	0.27	0.31	0.30	0.14	0.18	45.4	49.7	44.0	27.1	34.9
Other activities, not elsewhere classified	1.57	2.06	2.18	1.62	2.11	98.2	98.2	98.8	97.6	94.8
Footnotes (1) A primary activity refers to an individual's main activity. Other activities done simultaneously are not included. (2) Estimates for part-time workers are not shown because it is uncommon for fathers of household children to work part time. (3) Includes naps and spells of sleeplessness. (4) Estimates include a small amount of work time done by persons who do not meet the American Time Use Survey definition of employed. (5) Estimate is suppressed because it does not meet the American Time Use Survey publication standards.
NOTE: Data refer to persons 15 years and over. SOURCE: American Time Use Survey, Bureau of Labor Statistics

Table A-6C. Time spent in primary activities and the percent of married mothers and fathers who did the activities on an average day by employment status, average for the combined years 2013-17

Youngest own household child age 6-17
Activity	Average hours per day spent in primary activities(1)					Percent doing the activity on an average day
	Married mothers			Married fathers(2)		Married mothers			Married fathers(2)
	Employed full time	Employed part time	Not employed	Employed full time	Not employed	Employed full time	Employed part time	Not employed	Employed full time	Not employed
Total, all activities	24.00	24.00	24.00	24.00	24.00	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Personal care activities	9.13	9.27	9.71	8.72	9.90	100.0	100.0	99.9	99.9	99.8
Sleeping(3)	8.26	8.50	8.92	8.10	9.23	100.0	100.0	99.9	99.9	99.8
Household activities	1.96	2.72	4.07	1.26	2.40	88.5	94.5	96.2	68.1	78.7
Housework	0.76	1.12	1.75	0.21	0.59	50.8	63.6	74.7	16.6	40.6
Food preparation and cleanup	0.87	1.12	1.80	0.37	0.70	77.0	83.5	90.8	46.5	56.7
Lawn and garden care	0.07	0.14	0.13	0.26	0.41	5.2	9.3	10.5	11.9	18.5
Purchasing goods and services	0.53	0.62	0.69	0.33	0.52	50.4	54.5	57.4	37.8	45.3
Grocery shopping	0.14	0.18	0.27	0.06	0.16	19.1	23.6	29.4	8.7	17.2
Consumer goods purchases, except grocery shopping	0.31	0.34	0.27	0.22	0.25	36.6	38.7	34.5	30.2	29.8
Caring for and helping household members	0.80	1.18	1.54	0.54	0.93	63.1	75.7	74.7	46.0	55.2
Caring for and helping household children	0.77	1.14	1.49	0.52	0.83	60.6	74.5	73.4	43.3	52.5
Physical care	0.19	0.27	0.37	0.10	0.13	34.6	44.5	50.5	19.8	19.5
Education-related activities	0.13	0.27	0.33	0.09	0.17	14.1	22.6	24.9	9.5	14.7
Reading to/with children	0.02	0.04	0.04	0.01	0.03	4.8	6.7	8.2	2.6	3.6
Playing/doing hobbies with children	0.05	0.06	0.11	0.10	0.08	3.4	5.8	7.9	6.7	4.3
Working and work-related activities(4)	5.37	2.99	0.08	6.30	0.28	70.9	58.6	3.2	75.4	10.4
Working(4)	5.34	2.97	(5)-	6.27	(6)-	70.6	57.8	0.8	75.2	0.7
Leisure and sports	3.16	3.57	4.25	3.72	6.68	92.6	97.2	95.6	94.1	96.2
Socializing and communicating	0.60	0.67	0.85	0.57	0.80	36.5	42.8	43.3	33.8	40.9
Watching television	1.64	1.64	2.24	2.10	4.08	71.7	71.6	76.3	76.5	86.3
Participating in sports, exercise, and recreation	0.19	0.24	0.27	0.28	0.39	16.3	20.5	22.2	19.2	20.9
Travel	1.36	1.52	1.29	1.48	1.14	95.4	94.8	84.6	93.9	75.8
Travel related to caring for and helping household children	0.21	0.31	0.36	0.12	0.21	38.6	48.6	45.5	23.7	34.7
Other activities, not elsewhere classified	1.69	2.14	2.36	1.66	2.15	98.2	98.3	98.7	97.0	98.8
Footnotes (1) A primary activity refers to an individual's main activity. Other activities done simultaneously are not included. (2) Estimates for part-time workers are not shown because it is uncommon for fathers of household children to work part time. (3) Includes naps and spells of sleeplessness. (4) Estimates include a small amount of work time done by persons who do not meet the American Time Use Survey definition of employed. (5) Estimate is approximately zero. (6) Estimate is suppressed because it does not meet the American Time Use Survey publication standards.
NOTE: Data refer to persons 15 years and over. SOURCE: American Time Use Survey, Bureau of Labor Statistics

Last Modified Date: July 25, 2018