Technical information:  (202) 691-6339       USDL 08-0859
               http://www.bls.gov/tus/
                                             For release: 10:00 A.M. (EDT)
Media contact:         (202) 691-5902        Wednesday, June 25, 2008


                 AMERICAN TIME USE SURVEY--2007 RESULTS


   The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) of the U.S. Department of Labor
reported today that in 2007:

   --Twenty percent of employed persons did some or all of their work
     at home on days that they worked, and 87 percent did some or all of
     their work at their workplace.

   --On an average day (which includes all 7 days of the week), 83 percent
     of women and 66 percent of men spent some time doing household activ-
     ities, such as housework, cooking, lawn care, or financial and other
     household management.

   --Watching TV was the leisure activity that occupied the most time,
     accounting for about half of leisure time, on average, for both men
     and women.

   This annual release of American Time Use Survey (ATUS) data focuses on
the average amount of time per day in 2007 that Americans worked, did house-
hold activities, cared for household children, participated in educational
activities, and engaged in leisure and sports activities.  It also includes
measures of the average time per day spent providing childcare--both as a
primary (or main) activity and while doing other things--for the combined
years 2003-07.  Except for childcare, activities done simultaneously with
primary activities were not collected.  For a further description of ATUS
data and methodology, see the Technical Note.

Working (by Employed Persons) in 2007

   --Employed persons worked an average of 7.6 hours on the days that 
     they worked.  They worked longer on weekdays than on weekend days--
     7.9 versus 5.6 hours.  (See table 4.)

   --On the days that they worked, employed men worked about three-quarters
     of an hour 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 slightly longer than women--8.2 versus 7.8 hours.  (See
     table 4.)
     
   --Many more people worked on weekdays than on weekend days:  83 percent
     of employed persons worked on an average weekday compared with 36 per-
     cent on an average weekend day.  (See table 4.)

   --On the days that they worked, 20 percent of employed persons did some
     or all of their work at home, and 87 percent did some or all of their
     work at their workplace.  Hours worked at home averaged 2.8 hours per
     day, while hours worked at a workplace averaged 7.9 hours per day.  Men
     and women were equally likely to do some or all of their work at home.
     (See table 6.)

   --Multiple jobholders were almost twice as likely to work on an average
     weekend day as were single jobholders--62 versus 33 percent.  Multiple
     jobholders also were much more likely to work at home than were single
     jobholders--31 versus 18 percent.  (See tables 4 and 6.)


                                   - 2 -


   --Self-employed workers were more likely than wage and salary workers
     to have done some work at home--55 versus 16 percent.  (See table 7.)

   --On days that they worked, 35 percent of employed people age 25 and over
     with a bachelor’s degree or higher did some work at home compared with
     only 6 percent of those with less than a high school diploma.  (See
     table 6.)

Household Activities in 2007

   --On an average day, 83 percent of women and 66 percent of men spent some
     time doing household activities, such as housework, cooking, lawn care,
     or financial and other household management.  (For a definition of aver-
     age day, see the Technical Note.)  (See table 1.)

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

   --On an average day, 20 percent of men did housework--such as cleaning or
     doing laundry--compared with 52 percent of women.  Thirty-seven percent
     of men did food preparation or cleanup compared with 64 percent of women.
     (See table 1.)

Educational Activities in 2007

   --About 9 percent of the population engaged in educational activities, such
     as attending class or doing homework, on an average weekday.  Those who
     attended class on a weekday spent an average of 5.2 hours doing so, and
     those who did homework and research on a weekday spent 2.4 hours in such
     activities.  (See table 2.)

   --Persons who did homework spent more time doing so on an average weekend
     day (3.0 hours) than on an average weekday (2.4 hours).  (See table 2.)
     
   --On an average day, persons ages 15 to 19 spent 3.1 hours engaged in
     educational activities, more than three times as long as individuals
     in any other age group.  (See table 3.)

Leisure Activities in 2007

   --On an average day, nearly everyone age 15 and over (96 percent) engaged
     in some sort of leisure activity, such as watching TV, socializing, or
     exercising.  Of those who engaged in leisure activities, men spent more
     time in these activities (5.7 hours) than did women (5.0 hours).  (See
     table 1.)

   --Watching TV was the leisure activity that occupied the most time, ac-
     counting for about half of leisure time, on average, for both men and
     women.  Socializing, such as visiting with friends or attending or
     hosting social events, was the next most common leisure activity, ac-
     counting for about three-quarters of an hour per day for both sexes.
     (See table 1.)

   --Men were more likely than women to participate in sports, exercise, or
     recreation on any given day--21 versus 16 percent.  On the days that
     they participated, men also spent more time in these activities than
     did women, 2.0 versus 1.4 hours.  (See table 1.)

   --On an average day, adults age 75 and over spent 7.8 hours engaged in
     leisure activities--more than any other age group; 25- to 34-year-olds
     and 35- to 44-year-olds spent 4.2 hours engaged in leisure and sports
     activities--less than other age groups.  (See table 11.)

   --Time spent reading for personal interest and playing games or using
     a computer for leisure varied greatly by age.  Individuals age 75
     and over averaged 1.1 hours of reading per weekend day and 0.3 hour


                                     - 3 -


     (20 minutes) playing games or using a computer for leisure.  Con-
     versely, individuals ages 15 to 19 read for an average of 0.3 hour
     (16 minutes) per weekend day while spending 0.8 hour (47 minutes)
     playing games or using a computer for leisure.  (See table 11.)

   --Employed adults living in households with no children under 18 engaged
     in leisure activities for 4.4 hours per day, about an hour more than
     employed adults living with a child under age 6.  (See table 8.)

Care of Household Children (by Adults in Households with Children) for the
period 2003-07

   --Adults living in households with children under 6 spent an average of
     2.0 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 less than half as much time providing primary
     childcare to household children--0.8 hour (46 minutes) per day.  Pri-
     mary childcare is childcare that is done as a main activity, such as
     physical care of children and reading to or talking with children.
     (See table 9.)

   --On an average weekday, among adults living in households with children
     under 6, women spent 1.2 hours providing physical care (such as bathing
     or feeding a child) to household children; by contrast, men spent 0.4
     hour (23 minutes).  On an average weekend day, women provided about an
     hour of physical care to household children, while men provided about
     half an hour.  (See table 9.)

   --Adults living in households with children under 6 spent an average of
     5.6 hours per day providing secondary childcare--that is, they had at
     least one child under age 13 in their care while doing activities other
     than primary childcare.  Secondary childcare was most commonly provided
     while doing leisure activities (2.2 hours) or household activities (1.4
     hours).  (See table 10.)

   --Adults living in households with children under 6 spent more time pro-
     viding primary childcare on an average weekday (2.1 hours) than on an
     average weekend day (1.7 hours).  However, they spent less time pro-
     viding secondary childcare on weekdays than on weekend days--4.8 versus
     7.6 hours.  (See tables 9 and 10.)

Microdata Release

   Today, BLS also released ten 2007 ATUS microdata files for users who wish to
do their own tabulations and analyses.  In accordance with BLS and Census Bureau
policies that protect survey respondents' privacy, identifying information was
removed from the microdata files and some responses have been edited.  The 2007
microdata files are available on the BLS Web site at http://www.bls.gov/tus/
datafiles_2007.htm.

For More Information

   For additional information, please see the Technical Note or the ATUS Web
site at http://www.bls.gov/tus/home.htm.  Additional information about the ATUS
also may be obtained by e-mailing ATUSinfo@bls.gov or by calling (202) 691-6339.
Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individ-
uals upon request.  Voice phone:  (202) 691-5200; TDD message referral phone:
1-800-877-8339.