For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Friday, June 22, 2012 USDL-12-1246 

Technical information: (202) 691-6339 • atusinfo@bls.gov • www.bls.gov/tus 

Media contact: (202) 691-5902 • PressOffice@bls.gov 

AMERICAN TIME USE SURVEY — 2011 RESULTS

In 2011, 16 percent of the U.S. civilian noninstitutional population age 15 and over were eldercare 

providers, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. This and other information about eldercare 

providers and the time they spent providing care were collected for the first time in the 2011 American 

Time Use Survey (ATUS). This release also includes the average amount of time per day in 2011 that 

individuals spent in various activities, such as working, household activities, childcare, and leisure and 

sports activities. For a further description of ATUS data, concepts, and methodology, see the Technical 

Note. 

Eldercare in 2011 

 Of the 39.8 million eldercare providers in the civilian noninstitutional population, the majority 

(56 percent) were women. Eldercare providers are those who provided unpaid care to someone 

over the age of 65 who needed help because of a condition related to aging. (See table 13.) 

 Individuals ages 45 to 54 and 55 to 64 were the most likely to provide eldercare (23 and 22 

percent, respectively), followed by those age 65 and over (16 percent). (See table 13.) 

 Sixty-nine percent of eldercare providers cared for only one person in 2011. (See table 14.) 

 Forty-two percent of eldercare providers cared for a parent. (See table 14.) 

 Twenty-three percent of eldercare providers were parents of 1 or more household children under 

age 18. (See table 14.) 

 On average, 24 percent of eldercare providers cared for at least 1 eldercare recipient per day. 

Eldercare can involve a range of care activities, such as assisting with grooming, preparing 

meals, and providing transportation. Eldercare also can involve providing companionship or 

being available to assist when help is needed, and thus eldercare can be associated with nearly 

any activity. (See table 15.)

 On days they provided eldercare, persons spent an average of 3.1 hours providing this care. Just 

over half of this time was associated with leisure activities (1.0 hour) and household activities 

(42 minutes). (See table 16. Unlike estimates elsewhere in this release, major activity categories 

do not include related travel time.)
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Working (by Employed Persons) in 2011 

 On days that they worked, employed persons spent an average of 7.6 hours working. More hours 

were worked, on average, on weekdays than on weekend days—8.0 hours compared with 5.7 

hours. (See table 4.) 

 On the days that they worked, employed men worked 47 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 longer 

than women—8.3 hours compared with 7.8 hours. (See table 4.) 

 Many more persons worked on weekdays than on weekend days: 82 percent of employed 

persons worked on an average weekday, compared with 35 percent on an average weekend day. 

These estimates include individuals who worked on days they were not normally scheduled to 

work. For example, the 35 percent of workers who worked on a weekend day includes those 

whose jobs are typically scheduled on weekends, as well as those who usually work on weekdays 

but spent time working on the weekend. (See table 4.) 

 On the days that they worked, 21 percent of employed persons did some or all of their work at 

home, and 85 percent did some or all of their work at their workplace. Men and women were 

about equally likely to do some or all of their work at home. (See table 6.) 

 Multiple jobholders were more likely to work on an average weekend day than were single 

jobholders—57 percent compared with 33 percent. Multiple jobholders were also more likely to 

work at home than single jobholders—31 percent compared with 20 percent. (See tables 4 

and 6.) 

 Self-employed workers were three times more likely than wage and salary workers to have done 

some work at home on days worked—56 percent compared with 18 percent. (See table 7.) 

 On the days that they worked, 36 percent of employed persons age 25 and over with a bachelor's 

degree or higher did some work at home, compared with only 11 percent of those with less than 

a high school diploma. (See table 6.) 

Household Activities in 2011 

 On an average day, 83 percent of women and 65 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 average day, see the Technical Note.) (See table 1.) 

 On the days that they did household activities, women spent an average of 2.6 hours on such 

activities, while men spent 2.1 hours. (See table 1.) 

 On an average day, 19 percent of men did housework—such as cleaning or doing laundry—

compared with 48 percent of women. Forty percent of men did food preparation or cleanup, 

compared with 66 percent of women. (See table 1.) 
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Leisure Activities in 2011 

 On an average day, nearly everyone age 15 and over engaged in some sort of leisure activity (95 

percent), such as watching TV, socializing, or exercising. Of those who engaged in leisure 

activities, men spent more time in these activities (5.8 hours) than did women (5.2 hours). (See 

table 1.) 

 Watching TV was the leisure activity that occupied the most time (2.8 hours per day), 

accounting for about half of leisure time, on average, for those age 15 and over. Socializing, 

such as visiting with friends or attending or hosting social events, was the next most common 

leisure activity, accounting for nearly three-quarters of an hour per day. (See table 1.) 

 Men were a little more likely than women to participate in sports, exercise, or recreation on any 

given day—20 percent compared with 17 percent. On the days that they participated, men also 

spent more time in these activities than did women—1.9 hours compared with 1.3 hours. (See 

table 1.) 

 On an average day, adults age 75 and over spent 7.4 hours engaged in leisure and sports 

activities—more than any other age group; 25- 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 58 minutes of reading per weekend 

day and 21 minutes playing games or using a computer for leisure. Conversely, individuals ages 

15 to 19 read for an average of 7 minutes per weekend day while spending 1.2 hours playing 

games or using a computer for leisure. (See table 11.) 

 Employed adults living in households with no children under age 18 engaged in leisure activities 

for 4.5 hours per day, 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 2007-11 

 Adults living in households with children under age 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—47 minutes per day. Primary 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 day, among adults living in households with children under age 6, women spent 

1.1 hours providing physical care (such as bathing or feeding a child) to household children; by 

contrast, men spent 26 minutes providing physical care. (See table 9.) 

 Adults living in households with at least one child under age 6 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 6 was most commonly provided while doing leisure 

activities (2.2 hours) or household activities (1.3 hours). (See table 10.) 
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 Adults living in households with children under age 6 spent more time providing primary 

childcare on an average weekday (2.1 hours) than on an average weekend day (1.8 hours). 

However, they spent less time providing secondary childcare on weekdays than on weekend 

days—4.6 hours compared with 7.7 hours. (See tables 9 and 10.) 

Additional Data 

ATUS 2011 data files are available for users 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 data files and some responses have been edited. The 2011 data files are available 

on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/tus/data.htm. 
Technical Note 

The estimates in this release are based on annual 

average data from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS). 

The ATUS, which is conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau 

for the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), is a continuous 

survey about how individuals age 15 and over spend their 

time. 

Information in this release will be made available to 

sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 

(202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339. 

Survey methodology 

Data collection for the ATUS began in January 2003. 

Sample cases for the survey are selected monthly, and 

interviews are conducted continuously throughout the year. 

In 2011, approximately 12,500 individuals were 

interviewed. Estimates are released annually. 

ATUS sample households are chosen from the 

households that completed their eighth (final) interview for 

the Current Population Survey (CPS), the nation’s monthly 

household labor force survey. ATUS sample households 

are selected to ensure that estimates will be nationally 

representative. 

One individual age 15 or over is randomly chosen 

from each sampled household. This "designated person" is 

interviewed by telephone once about his or her activities on 

the day before the interview—the "diary day." 

All ATUS interviews are conducted using Computer 

Assisted Telephone Interviewing. Procedures are in place 

to collect information from the small number of households 

that did not provide a telephone number during the CPS 

interview. 

ATUS designated persons are preassigned a day of the 

week about which to report. Preassignment is designed to 

reduce variability in response rates across the week and to 

allow oversampling of weekend days so that accurate 

weekend day measures can be developed. Interviews occur 

on the day following the assigned day. For example, a 

person assigned to report about a Monday would be 

contacted on the following Tuesday. Ten percent of 

designated persons are assigned to report about each of the 

five weekdays. Twenty-five percent are assigned to report 

about each weekend day. Households are called for up to 8 

consecutive weeks (for example, 8 Tuesdays) in order to 

secure an interview. 

About the questionnaire 

In the time diary portion of the ATUS interview, 

survey respondents sequentially report activities they did 

between 4 a.m. on the day before the interview 

("yesterday") until 4 a.m. on the day of the interview. For 

each activity, respondents are asked how long the activity 

lasted. For activities other than personal care activities 

(such as sleeping and grooming), interviewers also ask 

respondents where they were and who was in the room with 

them (if at home) or who accompanied them (if away from 

home). If respondents report doing more than one activity 

at a time, they are asked to identify which one was the 

"main" (primary) activity. If none can be identified, then 

the interviewer records the first activity mentioned. After 

completing the time diary, interviewers ask respondents 

additional questions to clearly identify work, volunteering, 

and secondary childcare activities. Secondary childcare is 

defined as having a child under age 13 in one’s care while 

doing other activities. Questions to identify eldercare 

providers and activities done as eldercare were added to the 

survey in 2011. 

In addition, the ATUS includes an update of the 

household composition information from the last CPS 

interview (2 to 5 months prior to the ATUS interview) and 

the employment status information of the respondent and 

his or her spouse or unmarried partner. For respondents 

who became employed or changed jobs between the last 

CPS interview and the ATUS interview, information also is 

collected on industry, occupation, class of worker, and 

earnings. For those who are unemployed or on layoff, CPS 

questions on job search activities are asked. Those who 

report being on layoff are asked if or when they expect to 

be recalled to work. Finally, a question about current 

school enrollment status is asked of all respondents ages 15 

to 49. 

After completing the interview, primary activity 

descriptions are assigned a single 6-digit code using the 

ATUS Coding Lexicon. The 3-tier coding system consists 

of 17 major activity categories, each with multiple secondand third-tier subcategories. These coding lexicon 

categories are then combined into composite categories for 

publication, such as in this news release. Descriptions of 

categories shown in this release can be found in the Major 

activity category definitions section of this Technical Note. 

The 2011 ATUS Coding Lexicon can be accessed at 

www.bls.gov/tus/lexicons.htm. 

Concepts and definitions 

Average day. The average day measure reflects an 

average distribution across all persons in the reference 

population and all days of the week. Average day measures 

for the entire population provide a mechanism for seeing 

the overall distribution of time allocation for society as a 

whole. The ATUS collects data about daily activities from 

all segments of the population age 15 and over, including 

persons who are employed and not employed. Activity 

profiles differ based upon age, employment status, gender, 

and other characteristics. On an average day in 2011, 

persons in the U.S. age 15 and over did work and workrelated activities for 3.6 hours, slept 8.7 hours, spent 5.2 

hours doing leisure and sports activities, and spent 1.8 

hours doing household activities. The remaining 4.7 hours 

were spent doing a variety of other activities, including 

eating and drinking, attending school, and shopping. (See 

table 1.) By comparison, an average weekday for persons 
employed full time on days that they worked included 9.2 

hours doing work and work-related activities, 7.6 hours 

sleeping, 2.9 hours doing leisure and sports activities, and 

0.9 hour doing household activities. The remaining 3.4 

hours were spent in other activities, such as those described 

above. (These estimates include related travel time.) 

Many activities typically are not done on a daily basis, 

and some activities only are done by a subset of the 

population. For example, only 42 percent of all persons age 

15 years and over worked on an average day in 2011 

because some were not employed and those who were 

employed did not work every day. (See table 1.) 

Average hours per day. The average number of hours 

spent in a 24-hour day (between 4 a.m. on the diary day and 

4 a.m. on the interview day) doing a specified activity. 

 Average hours per day, population. The 

average number of hours per day is computed 

using all responses from a given population, 

including those of respondents who did not do a 

particular activity on their diary day. These 

estimates reflect how many population members 

engaged in an activity and the amount of time 

they spent doing it. 

 Average hours per day, persons who did the 

activity. The average number of hours per day 

is computed using only responses from those 

who engaged in a particular activity on their 

diary day. 

Condition related to aging. An ongoing ailment or 

physical or emotional limitation that typically affects older 

people, such as becoming more frail; having difficulty 

seeing, hearing, or physically moving; becoming more 

forgetful; tiring more quickly; or having specific medical 

ailments that are more common among older adults. It also 

refers to existing conditions that become progressively 

worse as one ages. 

Diary day. The diary day is the day about which the 

respondent reports. For example, the diary day of a 

respondent interviewed on Tuesday is Monday. 

Earnings 

 Usual weekly earnings. Estimates represent the 

earnings of full-time wage and salary workers 

with one job only (both incorporated and 

unincorporated self-employed are excluded), 

before taxes and other deductions. They include 

any overtime pay, commissions, or tips usually 

received. Usual weekly earnings are only 

updated in ATUS for about a third of employed 

respondents—if the respondent changed jobs or 

employment status between the CPS and ATUS 

interviews or if the CPS weekly earnings value 

was imputed. This means that the earnings 

information could be out of date because the 

CPS interview was done 2 to 5 months prior to 

the ATUS interview. Respondents are asked to 

identify the easiest way for them to report 

earnings (hourly, weekly, biweekly, twice 

monthly, annually, or other) and how much they 

usually earn in the reported time period. 

Earnings reported on a basis other than weekly 

are converted to a weekly equivalent. The term 

"usual" is as perceived by the respondent. If the 

respondent asks for a definition of usual, 

interviewers are instructed to define the term as 

more than half the weeks worked during the past 

4 or 5 months. 

 Weekly earnings ranges. The ranges used 

represent approximately 25 percent of full-time 

wage and salary workers (both incorporated and 

unincorporated self-employed are excluded) 

who held only one job. For example, 25 percent 

of full-time wage and salary workers with one 

job only had weekly earnings of $520 or less. 

These dollar values vary from year to year. 

Eldercare. Eldercare is providing unpaid care or 

assistance to an individual who needed help because of a 

condition related to aging. This care can be provided by a 

family member or non-family member. Care can be 

provided in the recipient’s home, the provider’s home, or a 

care facility, such as in a nursing home. 

Eldercare can involve a range of care activities, such 

as assisting with grooming and feeding, preparing meals, 

arranging medical care, and providing transportation. 

Eldercare also can involve providing companionship or 

being available to assist when help is needed, and thus it 

can be associated with nearly any activity. 

Estimates of the time spent providing eldercare are 

derived by summing the durations of activities during 

which respondents provided care or assistance for an adult 

who needed help because of a condition related to aging. 

These estimates never include times the respondent 

reported Personal care activities or Personal care services. 

Eldercare provider. An individual who provided 

eldercare more than one time in the 3 to 4 months prior to 

the interview day. The time frame varies slightly by 

respondent because the question asks about care provided 

between the first day of a given reference month and the 

interview day. Estimates are restricted to eldercare 

providers caring for at least one person age 65 or older. 

Employment status 

 Employed. All persons who, at any time during 

the 7 days prior to the interview: 
1) Did any work at all as paid employees; 

worked in their own business, profession, or on 

their own farm; or usually worked 15 hours or 

more as unpaid workers in a family-operated 

enterprise; or 

2) Were not working but had jobs or businesses 

from which they were temporarily absent due to 

illness, bad weather, vacation, childcare 

problems, labor-management disputes, maternity 

or paternity leave, job training, or other family or 

personal reasons, whether or not they were paid 

for the time off or were seeking other jobs. 

 Employed full time. Full-time workers are those 

who usually worked 35 hours or more per week 

at all jobs combined. 

 Employed part time. Part-time workers are 

those who usually worked fewer than 35 hours 

per week at all jobs combined. 

 Not employed. Persons are not employed if they 

do not meet the conditions for employment. The 

not employed include those classified as 

unemployed as well as those classified as not in 

the labor force (using CPS definitions). 

The numbers of employed and not employed persons 

in this report do not correspond to published totals from the 

CPS for several reasons. First, the reference population for 

the ATUS is age 15 years and over, whereas it is age 16 

years and over for the CPS. Second, ATUS data are 

collected continuously, the employment reference period 

being the 7 days prior to the interview. By contrast, CPS 

data are usually collected during the week including the 

19th of the month and refer to employment during the week 

containing the 12th of the month. Finally, the CPS accepts 

answers from household members about other household 

members whereas such proxy responses are not allowed in 

the ATUS. One consequence of the difference in proxy 

reporting is that a significantly higher proportion of 

teenagers report employment in the ATUS than in the CPS. 

While the information on employment from the ATUS is 

useful for assessing work in the context of other daily 

activities, the employment data are not intended for analysis 

of current employment trends. Compared with the CPS and 

other estimates of employment, the ATUS estimates are 

based on a much smaller sample and are only available with 

a substantial lag since ATUS data and estimates are 

published during the year following data collection. 

Household children. Household children are children 

under age 18 residing in the household of the ATUS 

respondent. The children may be related to the respondent 

(such as his or her own children, grandchildren, nieces or 

nephews, or siblings) or not related (such as foster children 

or children of roommates). 

Primary activity. A primary activity is the main 

activity a respondent was doing at a specified time. With 

the exception of secondary childcare in table 10 and 

eldercare in table 16, the estimates presented in this release 

reflect time spent in primary activities only. 

Secondary activities. A secondary (or simultaneous) 

activity is an activity done at the same time as a primary 

activity. With the exception of the care of children under 

age 13, information on secondary activities is not 

systematically collected in the ATUS. 

Secondary childcare. Secondary childcare is care for 

children under age 13 that is done while doing an activity 

other than primary childcare, such as cooking dinner. 

Secondary childcare estimates are derived by summing the 

durations of activities during which respondents had a 

household child or their own nonhousehold child under age 

13 in their care while doing activities other than primary 

childcare. It is restricted to times the respondent was 

awake. Secondary childcare time for household children is 

further restricted to the time between when the first 

household child under age 13 woke up and the last 

household child under age 13 went to bed. If respondents 

report providing both primary and secondary care at the 

same time, the time is attributed to primary care only. 

Weekday, weekend, and holiday estimates. Estimates 

for weekdays are an average of reports about Monday 

through Friday. Estimates for weekend days and holidays 

are an average of reports about Saturdays, Sundays, and the 

following holidays: New Year’s Day, Easter, Memorial 

Day, the Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and 

Christmas Day. In 2011, the telephone call center was 

closed the day after Christmas Day, so data were not 

collected about this holiday. Data were not collected about 

New Year’s Day in 2007, Christmas Day in 2008, and the 

Fourth of July in 2010. 

Major activity category definitions 

The following definitions describe the activity 

categories shown in this report. All major time-use 

categories in Tables 1-12 include related travel time and 

waiting time. For example, time spent "driving to the 

stadium" and time spent "waiting to get into the stadium to 

play ball" are included in Leisure and sports. Activity 

categories in Table 16—which details time spent providing 

eldercare—are slightly different than those in Tables 1-12: 

Traveling appears as a separate activity rather than being 

combined with each of the major activity categories, and 

the composition of Other activities, not elsewhere 

classified, has changed. 

Personal care activities. Personal care activities 

include sleeping, grooming (such as bathing or dressing), 

health-related self-care, and personal or private activities. 

Receiving unpaid personal care from others (for example, 
"my sister put polish on my nails") also is captured in this 

category. In general, respondents are not asked who they 

were with or where they were for personal care activities, as 

such information can be sensitive. 

Eating and drinking. All time spent eating or drinking 

(except eating and drinking done as part of a work or 

volunteer activity), whether alone, with others, at home, at a 

place of purchase, or somewhere else, is classified here. 

Household activities. Household activities are those 

done by persons to maintain their households. These 

include housework; cooking; lawn and garden care; pet 

care; vehicle maintenance and repair; home maintenance, 

repair, decoration, and renovation; and household 

management and organizational activities (such as filling 

out paperwork or planning a party). Food preparation, 

whether or not reported as done specifically for another 

household member, is always classified as a household 

activity unless it was done as a volunteer, work, or incomegenerating activity. For example, "making breakfast for my 

son" is coded as a household activity, not as childcare. 

Purchasing goods and services. This category 

includes purchases of consumer goods, professional and 

personal care services, household services, and government 

services. Consumer purchases include most purchases and 

rentals of consumer goods, regardless of the mode or place 

of purchase or rental (in person, via telephone, over the 

Internet, at home, or in a store). Gasoline, grocery, other 

food purchases, and all other shopping are further broken 

out in subcategories. 

Time spent obtaining, receiving, and purchasing 

professional and personal care services provided by 

someone else also is classified in this category. 

Professional services include childcare, financial services 

and banking, legal services, medical and adult care services, 

real estate services, and veterinary services. Personal care 

services include day spas, hair salons and barbershops, nail 

salons, and tanning salons. Activities classified here 

include time spent paying, meeting with, or talking to 

service providers, as well as time spent receiving the 

service or waiting to receive the service. 

Time spent arranging for and purchasing household 

services provided by someone else also is classified here. 

Household services include housecleaning; cooking; lawn 

care and landscaping; pet care; tailoring, laundering, and 

dry cleaning; vehicle maintenance and repairs; and home 

repairs, maintenance, and construction. 

This category also captures the time spent obtaining 

government services—such as applying for food stamps—

and purchasing government-required licenses or paying 

fines or fees.

Caring for and helping household members. Time 

spent doing activities to care for or help any child (under 

age 18) or adult in the household, regardless of relationship 

to the respondent or the physical or mental health status of 

the person being helped, is classified here. Caring for and 

helping activities for household children and adults are 

coded separately in subcategories. 

Primary childcare activities include time spent 

providing physical care; playing with children; reading to 

children; assistance with homework; attending children’s 

events; taking care of children’s health needs; and dropping 

off, picking up, and waiting for children. Passive childcare 

done as a primary activity (such as "keeping an eye on my 

son while he swam in the pool") also is included. A child’s 

presence during the activity is not enough in itself to 

classify the activity as childcare. For example, "watching 

television with my child" is coded as a leisure activity, not 

as childcare. 

Secondary childcare occurs when persons have a child 

under age 13 "in their care" while doing activities other 

than primary childcare. For a complete definition, see the 

Concepts and definitions section of this Technical Note. 

Caring for and helping household members also 

includes a range of activities done to benefit adult members 

of households, such as providing physical and medical care 

or obtaining medical services. Doing something as a favor 

for or helping another household adult does not 

automatically result in classification as a helping activity. 

For example, a report of "helping my spouse cook dinner" 

is considered a household activity (food preparation), not a 

helping activity, because cooking dinner benefits the 

household as a whole. By contrast, doing paperwork for 

another person usually benefits the individual, so a report of 

"filling out an insurance application for my spouse" is 

considered a helping activity. 

Caring for and helping nonhousehold members. 

Caring for and helping nonhousehold members includes 

activities persons do to care for or help those—either 

children (under age 18) or adults—who do not live with 

them. When done for or through an organization, time 

spent helping nonhousehold members is classified as 

volunteering, rather than as helping nonhousehold 

members. Care of nonhousehold children, even when done 

as a favor or helping activity for another adult, is always 

classified as caring for and helping nonhousehold children, 

not as helping another adult. 

Working and work-related activities. This category 

includes time spent working, doing activities as part of 

one’s job, engaging in income-generating activities (not as 

part of one’s job), and job search activities. "Working" 

includes hours spent doing the specific tasks required of 

one’s main or other job, regardless of location or time of 

day. "Work-related activities" include activities that are not 

obviously work but are done as part of one’s job, such as 

having a business lunch or playing golf with clients. "Other 

income-generating activities" are those done "on the side" 

or under informal arrangement and are not part of a regular 

job. Such activities might include selling homemade crafts, 

babysitting, maintaining a rental property, or having a yard 

sale. These activities are those that persons "are paid for or 

will be paid for." 
Travel time related to working and work-related 

activities includes time spent traveling to and from work, as 

well as time spent traveling for work-related, incomegenerating, and job search activities. 

Educational activities. Educational activities include 

taking classes (including Internet and other distancelearning courses) for a degree as well as for personal 

interest; doing research and homework; and taking care of 

administrative tasks related to education, such as registering 

for classes or obtaining a school ID. For high school 

students, before- and after-school extracurricular activities 

(except sports) also are classified as educational activities. 

Educational activities do not include time spent for classes 

or training received as part of a job. Time spent helping 

others with their education-related activities is classified in 

the Caring for and helping categories. 

Organizational, civic, and religious activities. This 

category captures time spent volunteering for or through an 

organization, performing civic obligations, and participating in religious and spiritual activities. Civic obligations 

include government-required duties, such as serving jury 

duty or appearing in court, and activities that assist or influence government processes, such as voting or attending 

town hall meetings. Religious activities include those 

normally associated with membership in or identification 

with specific religions or denominations, such as attending 

religious services; participating in choirs, youth groups, 

orchestras, or unpaid teaching (unless identified as 

volunteer activities); and engaging in personal religious 

practices, such as praying. 

Leisure and sports. The leisure and sports category 

includes sports, exercise, and recreation; socializing and 

communicating; and other leisure activities. Sports, 

exercise, and recreation activities include participating in—

as well as attending or watching—sports, exercise, and 

recreational activities. Recreational activities are leisure 

activities that are active in nature, such as yard games like 

croquet or horseshoes. Socializing and communicating 

includes face-to-face social communication and hosting or 

attending social functions. Leisure activities include 

watching television; reading; relaxing or thinking; playing 

computer, board, or card games; using a computer or the 

Internet for personal interest; playing or listening to music; 

and other activities, such as attending arts, cultural, and 

entertainment events. 

Telephone calls, mail, and e-mail. This category 

captures telephone communication and handling household 

or personal mail or e-mail. Telephone and Internet 

purchases are classified in Purchasing goods and services. 

Telephone calls, mail, or e-mail identified as related to 

work or volunteering are classified as work or volunteering. 

Traveling. This category includes all travel, 

regardless of mode or purpose, as well as security 

procedures related to traveling. All major time-use 

categories in Tables 1-12 include related travel time and 

waiting time; therefore, no Traveling category appears in 

these tables. 

Other activities, not elsewhere classified. This is a 

residual category intended to capture activities not 

elsewhere classified in each table. These might be 

ambiguous activities that could not be coded, missing 

activities, or activities that occurred very infrequently. 

Missing activities result when respondents do not remember 

what they did for a period of time, or when they consider an 

activity too private or personal to report. In Tables 1-12, 

this category also includes security procedures related to 

traveling and traveling that is not associated with a specific 

activity category, as no Traveling category appears in these 

tables. In Table 16, this category includes the small amount 

of time that was spent in educational activities, as no 

Educational activities category appears in this table. 

Processing and estimation 

After ATUS data are collected, they go through an 

editing and imputation procedure. Responses to CPS 

questions that are re-asked in the ATUS go through the 

regular CPS edit and imputation procedures. Some item 

nonresponses for questions unique to the ATUS (such as 

where an activity took place or how much time was spent 

doing secondary childcare) also are imputed. Missing 

activities and missing values for who was present during an 

activity are never imputed. 

ATUS records are weighted quarterly to reduce bias in 

the estimates due to differences in sampling and response 

rates across subpopulations and days of the week. 

Specifically, the data are weighted to ensure the following: 

 Weekdays represent about 5/7 of the weighted 

data, and weekend days each represent about 1/7 

of the weighted data for the population as a 

whole. The actual proportions depend on the 

number of weekdays and weekend days in a 

given quarter. 

 The sum of the weights is equal to the number of 

person-days in the quarter for the population as a 

whole and for selected subpopulations. 

Reliability of the estimates 

Statistics based on the ATUS are subject to both 

sampling and nonsampling error. When a sample, rather 

than the entire population, is surveyed, estimates differ 

from the true population values they represent. The 

component of this difference that occurs because samples 

differ by chance is known as sampling error, and its 

variability is measured by the standard error of the estimate. 

Sample estimates from a given survey design are unbiased 

when an average of the estimates from all possible samples 

would yield, hypothetically, the true population value. In 

this case, the sample estimate and its standard error can be 

used to construct approximate confidence intervals, or 

ranges of values that include the true population value with 
known probabilities. If the process of selecting a sample 

from the population were repeated many times, an estimate 

made from each sample, and a suitable estimate of its 

standard error calculated for each sample, then 

approximately 90 percent of the intervals from 1.645 

standard errors below the estimate to 1.645 standard errors 

above the estimate would include the true population value. 

BLS analyses are generally conducted at the 90-percent 

level of confidence. 

 The ATUS data also are affected by nonsampling

error, which is the average difference between population 

and sample values for samples generated by a given 

process. Nonsampling error can occur for many reasons, 

including the failure to sample a segment of the population, 

inability to obtain information for all respondents in the 

sample, inability or unwillingness of respondents to provide 

correct information, and errors made in the collection or 

processing of the data. Errors also could occur if nonresponse is correlated with time use. 

 Nonsampling error and eldercare. Eldercare done for 

a spouse or partner may be underreported, especially when 

the care provided has only recently become necessary. For 

example, a survey respondent who has always prepared the 

family dinner may not view cooking as an eldercare 

activity; if her husband is no longer capable of preparing his 

own meals, though, he depends on this assistance and it 

meets the definition of eldercare. 

 Additionally, nonsampling error affects data on the 

frequency of care. Survey respondents were asked how 

often they provided eldercare in recent months and whether 

they provided eldercare on the diary day. Information 

about care provided on the diary day was used to calculate 

daily participation rates. There are some inconsistencies 

between the reported frequency of care and the actual 

provision of eldercare on an average day. For example, in 

2011, only 65 percent of eldercare providers who selfreported providing care “daily” actually provided eldercare 

on an average day. This discrepancy reflects some 

respondents’ choice of “daily” rather than “several times a 

week” or another option to best describe their eldercare 

frequency, even while acknowledging they had not 

provided care on the diary day. 

Publication requirements 

 Estimates of average hours per day and participation 

rates are not published unless there are a minimum number 

of respondents representing the given population. 

Additional publication criteria are applied that include the 

number of respondents who reported doing a specified 

activity and the standard error or coefficient of variation for 

the estimate. Estimates that are considered “close to zero” 

or that round to 0.00, are published as approximately zero 

or “~0.” For a detailed description of the statistical 

reliability criteria necessary for publication, please contact 

ATUS staff at ATUSinfo@bls.gov. 
Table 1. Time spent in primary activities 1 and percent of the civilian population engaging in each activity, averages p

by sex, 2011 annual averages

Activity

Average hours per day, civilian

population

Average percent engaged in the

activity per day

Average hours per day 

who engaged in the 

Total Men Women Total Men Women Total Men 

Total, all activities 2 ......................................................... 24.00 24.00 24.00 – – – – – 

 Personal care activities ................................................. 9.49 9.25 9.72 100.0 100.0 100.0 9.49 9.25  Sleeping ..................................................................... 8.71 8.62 8.80 99.9 99.9 99.9 8.72 8.63  Eating and drinking ....................................................... 1.24 1.27 1.21 95.9 96.5 95.3 1.29 1.32  Household activities ...................................................... 1.77 1.37 2.16 74.0 65.0 82.5 2.40 2.11  Housework ................................................................. .58 .27 .87 33.8 18.9 47.8 1.71 1.43  Food preparation and cleanup ................................... .56 .31 .79 53.4 40.1 66.0 1.04 .76  Lawn and garden care ............................................... .19 .26 .13 9.1 11.5 6.8 2.12 2.28  Household management ........................................... .12 .10 .14 16.2 13.9 18.4 .76 .73  Purchasing goods and services .................................... .72 .62 .82 42.6 38.4 46.6 1.70 1.61  Consumer goods purchases ...................................... .37 .31 .43 39.1 35.4 42.5 .95 .87  Professional and personal care services ................... .07 .05 .10 7.2 5.3 9.0 1.02 .85  Caring for and helping household members ................. .51 .33 .67 24.4 19.5 29.1 2.08 1.70  Caring for and helping household children ................ .39 .24 .54 20.8 15.7 25.6 1.90 1.54  Caring for and helping nonhousehold members ........... .21 .19 .22 11.7 10.9 12.5 1.77 1.75  Caring for and helping nonhousehold adults ............. .07 .08 .06 7.7 7.5 7.8 .93 1.05  Working and work-related activities .............................. 3.57 4.23 2.95 44.6 50.4 39.2 7.99 8.39  Working ..................................................................... 3.20 3.81 2.63 42.1 47.9 36.7 7.60 7.96  Educational activities .................................................... .47 .49 .45 8.4 8.5 8.3 5.65 5.83  Attending class .......................................................... .28 .30 .25 5.4 5.7 5.1 5.12 5.31  Homework and research ........................................... .15 .14 .16 5.7 5.7 5.7 2.65 2.55  Organizational, civic, and religious activities ................ .35 .30 .40 14.0 11.7 16.2 2.53 2.59  Religious and spiritual activities ................................. .15 .12 .19 9.1 7.0 11.0 1.71 1.76  Volunteering (organizational and civic activities) ....... .15 .14 .16 6.1 5.6 6.6 2.47 2.48  Leisure and sports ........................................................ 5.21 5.55 4.89 95.2 95.7 94.8 5.47 5.80  Socializing and communicating ................................. .70 .63 .77 35.6 32.3 38.8 1.97 1.95  Watching television .................................................... 2.75 2.99 2.53 78.3 79.7 77.0 3.51 3.75  Participating in sports, exercise, and recreation ........ .30 .39 .22 18.6 20.4 16.9 1.64 1.93  Telephone calls, mail, and e-mail ................................. .16 .11 .20 21.2 16.5 25.7 .73 .66  Other activities, not elsewhere classified ...................... .29 .29 .30 16.5 15.4 17.6 1.78 1.88 

 1 A primary activity refers to an individual’s main activity. Other activities done simultaneously are not included. 2 All major activity categories include related travel time. See Technical Note for activity category definitions.

– Not applicable.NOTE: Data refer to persons 15 years and over.
Table 2. Time spent in primary activities 1 and percent of the civilian population engaging in each

activity, averages per day on weekdays and weekends, 2011 annual averages

Activity

Average hours per day,

civilian population

Average percent

engaged in the activity

per day

Average hours per day

for persons who

engaged in the activity

Weekdays

Weekends

and

holidays

Weekdays

Weekends

and

holidays

Weekdays

Weekends

and

holidays

Total, all activities 2 ......................................................... 24.00 24.00 – – – –

 Personal care activities ................................................. 9.24 10.08 100.0 100.0 9.24 10.08 Sleeping ..................................................................... 8.45 9.35 99.9 100.0 8.45 9.36 Eating and drinking ....................................................... 1.19 1.37 96.2 95.3 1.23 1.43 Household activities ...................................................... 1.63 2.12 73.5 75.2 2.21 2.82 Housework ................................................................. .52 .71 32.6 36.6 1.60 1.96 Food preparation and cleanup ................................... .54 .59 54.2 51.5 1.00 1.15 Lawn and garden care ............................................... .16 .26 8.3 11.1 1.98 2.36 Household management ........................................... .11 .14 16.2 16.3 .71 .88 Purchasing goods and services .................................... .69 .81 42.2 43.5 1.62 1.87 Consumer goods purchases ...................................... .32 .48 37.8 42.1 .86 1.14 Professional and personal care services ................... .09 .04 8.8 3.4 1.00 1.09 Caring for and helping household members ................. .54 .42 25.8 21.3 2.10 1.99 Caring for and helping household children ................ .41 .35 22.1 17.6 1.86 2.02 Caring for and helping nonhousehold members ........... .20 .23 11.1 13.0 1.76 1.80 Caring for and helping nonhousehold adults ............. .06 .09 7.2 8.8 .87 1.05 Working and work-related activities .............................. 4.49 1.38 53.6 23.5 8.39 5.88 Working ..................................................................... 4.04 1.23 50.8 21.6 7.95 5.67 Educational activities .................................................... .60 .18 9.7 5.3 6.17 3.45 Attending class .......................................................... .38 .02 7.4 .6 5.16 4.08 Homework and research ........................................... .15 .15 6.1 4.6 2.49 3.16 Organizational, civic, and religious activities ................ .25 .61 11.0 21.2 2.25 2.88 Religious and spiritual activities ................................. .07 .35 5.7 16.9 1.30 2.04 Volunteering (organizational and civic activities) ....... .14 .19 5.9 6.6 2.28 2.86 Leisure and sports ........................................................ 4.73 6.34 94.7 96.6 5.00 6.56 Socializing and communicating ................................. .55 1.05 33.3 41.0 1.66 2.56 Watching television .................................................... 2.57 3.19 77.6 80.1 3.31 3.98 Participating in sports, exercise, and recreation ........ .28 .36 19.0 17.7 1.47 2.06 Telephone calls, mail, and e-mail ................................. .16 .15 22.4 18.5 .71 .80 Other activities, not elsewhere classified ...................... .30 .29 16.9 15.7 1.76 1.83

 1 A primary activity refers to an individual’s main activity. Other activities done simultaneously are not included. 2 All major activity categories include related travel time. See Technical Note for activity category definitions.

– Not applicable.NOTE: Data refer to persons 15 years and over.
Table 3. Time spent in primary activities 1 for the civilian population by age, sex, race, Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, m

educational attainment, 2011 annual averages

Characteristic

Average hours per day spent in primary activities 2

Personal

care

activities

Eating and

drinking

Household

activities

Purchasing

goods and

services

Caring for

and

helping

household

members

Caring for

and

helping

nonhousehold

members

Working

and workrelated

activities

Educational activities

Organizational,

civic, and

religious

activities

L

an

Total, 15 years and over ....................... 9.49 1.24 1.77 0.72 0.51 0.21 3.57 0.47 0.35  15 to 19 years ..................................... 10.29 1.08 .72 .46 .18 .16 .88 3.33 .32  20 to 24 years ..................................... 9.95 1.15 1.14 .61 .44 .14 3.83 .98 .32  25 to 34 years ..................................... 9.30 1.18 1.47 .61 1.01 .17 4.95 .37 .24  35 to 44 years ..................................... 9.18 1.18 1.92 .76 1.05 .20 4.60 .13 .33  45 to 54 years ..................................... 9.17 1.19 1.95 .83 .44 .26 4.67 .07 .34  55 to 64 years ..................................... 9.30 1.30 2.02 .73 .14 .27 3.83 .03 .36  65 to 74 years ..................................... 9.63 1.49 2.32 .90 .08 .25 1.44 ~0 .47  75 years and over ............................... 10.17 1.46 2.54 .83 .05 .13 .28 ~0 .63  Men, 15 years and over ....................... 9.25 1.27 1.37 .62 .33 .19 4.23 .49 .30  15 to 19 years ..................................... 10.14 1.06 .60 .33 .13 .13 .80 3.23 .31  20 to 24 years ..................................... 9.78 1.17 .85 .51 .11 .20 4.00 1.03 .32  25 to 34 years ..................................... 8.97 1.18 1.03 .51 .51 .21 6.01 .45 .15  35 to 44 years ..................................... 8.96 1.22 1.29 .62 .70 .21 5.63 .12 .33  45 to 54 years ..................................... 8.94 1.28 1.56 .68 .39 .17 5.33 3 ( ) .28 

 55 to 64 years ..................................... 9.04 1.35 1.61 .68 .15 .18 4.47 ~0 .31  65 to 74 years ..................................... 9.40 1.60 2.19 .84 .06 .28 1.70 ~0 .33  75 years and over ............................... 9.89 1.49 2.11 .84 .10 .11 .46 3 ( ) .60  Women, 15 years and over ................. 9.72 1.21 2.16 .82 .67 .22 2.95 .45 .40  15 to 19 years ..................................... 10.45 1.10 .85 .59 .23 .20 .97 3.44 .33  20 to 24 years ..................................... 10.13 1.13 1.43 .72 .78 .08 3.65 .93 .32  25 to 34 years ..................................... 9.63 1.18 1.91 .71 1.51 .13 3.89 .28 .33  35 to 44 years ..................................... 9.40 1.14 2.52 .90 1.39 .19 3.59 .14 .32  45 to 54 years ..................................... 9.39 1.11 2.32 .98 .48 .34 4.03 .11 .40  55 to 64 years ..................................... 9.54 1.25 2.40 .77 .14 .36 3.24 .04 .40  65 to 74 years ..................................... 9.84 1.40 2.44 .96 .10 .22 1.21 ~0 .59  75 years and over ............................... 10.36 1.44 2.84 .82 .02 .15 .15 ~0 .65  White, 15 years and over ..................... 9.45 1.28 1.85 .73 .52 .21 3.63 .43 .33  Men ..................................................... 9.22 1.30 1.43 .61 .34 .19 4.32 .47 .30  Women ............................................... 9.66 1.25 2.25 .84 .70 .22 2.96 .39 .35 

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 3. Time spent in primary activities 1 for the civilian population by age, sex, race, Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, m

educational attainment, 2011 annual averages — Continued

Characteristic

Average hours per day spent in primary activities 2

Personal

care

activities

Eating and

drinking

Household

activities

Purchasing

goods and

services

Caring for

and

helping

household

members

Caring for

and

helping

nonhousehold

members

Working

and workrelated

activities

Educational activities

Organizational,

civic, and

religious

activities

L

an

 Black or African American, 15 years

and over .............................................. 9.84 0.91 1.36 0.71 0.39 0.23 3.12 0.64 0.52 

 Men ..................................................... 9.41 1.00 1.07 .63 .26 .19 3.30 .65 .40  Women ............................................... 10.18 .84 1.60 .78 .49 .27 2.97 .64 .61  Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, 15 years

and over .............................................. 9.90 1.19 1.83 .74 .68 .14 3.39 .71 .27 

 Men ..................................................... 9.71 1.21 1.16 .65 .40 .14 4.06 .79 .24  Women ............................................... 10.10 1.17 2.53 .83 .98 .14 2.68 .62 .29 Marital status and sex:

Married, spouse present ..................... 9.28 1.32 2.10 .80 .75 .20 3.87 .09 .38 

Men ................................................... 9.07 1.35 1.61 .71 .53 .17 4.70 .05 .34 Women ............................................. 9.49 1.29 2.60 .88 .98 .22 3.02 .13 .42 

Other marital statuses ........................ 9.72 1.15 1.44 .65 .25 .22 3.26 .87 .33 

Men ................................................... 9.45 1.18 1.09 .51 .11 .21 3.71 .99 .26 Women ............................................. 9.95 1.13 1.73 .77 .38 .22 2.88 .76 .39 

 Educational attainment, 25 years and

over:

Less than a high school diploma ........ 10.02 1.07 2.20 .66 .47 .20 2.43 .04 .44 High school graduates, no college ..... 9.50 1.20 2.10 .74 .42 .25 3.29 .06 .32 Some college or associate degree ..... 9.34 1.24 1.97 .74 .55 .25 4.04 .20 .32 Bachelor’s degree and higher ............. 9.01 1.42 1.71 .85 .70 .17 4.65 .16 .40 

 1 A primary activity refers to an individual’s main activity. Other activities done simultaneously are not included. 2 All major activity categories include related travel time. See Technical Note for activity category definitions.

3 Estimate is suppressed because it does not meet the American Time Use Survey publication standards.

~0 Estimate is approximately zero.NOTE: Unless otherwise specified, data refer to persons 15 years and over. Persons of Hispanic or Latino ethnicity may be of any race.
Table 4. Employed persons working 1 and time spent working on days worked by full- and part-time status and sex, jo

status, educational attainment, and day of week, 2011 annual averages

(Numbers in thousands)

Characteristic Total employed

Employed persons who worked on

an average day

Employed persons who worked on

an average weekday

Employed pers

an average Sa

h

Number Percent of employed Average hours of work Number 2 Percent of employed Average hours of work Number 3 Pe

em

Full- and part-time status and sex

Total, 15 years and over 4 ........................................ 149,386 101,723 68.1 7.64 122,234 81.8 7.99 52,421  Full-time workers ................................................... 115,758 83,389 72.0 8.10 101,936 88.1 8.46 39,288  Part-time workers .................................................. 33,628 18,334 54.5 5.55 20,399 60.7 5.64 13,180  Men 4 ....................................................................... 80,057 56,108 70.1 8.00 67,181 83.9 8.40 29,684 

 Full-time workers ................................................... 67,465 49,523 73.4 8.30 60,067 89.0 8.70 24,735  Part-time workers .................................................. 12,592 6,585 52.3 5.72 7,209 57.3 5.97 4,969  Women 4 .................................................................. 69,329 45,616 65.8 7.21 55,061 79.4 7.48 22,719 

 Full-time workers ................................................... 48,292 33,866 70.1 7.81 41,874 86.7 8.13 14,517  Part-time workers .................................................. 21,036 11,750 55.9 5.46 13,198 62.7 5.45 8,212 

Jobholding status

Single jobholders ...................................................... 135,219 90,504 66.9 7.59 109,619 81.1 7.92 44,000 Multiple jobholders .................................................... 14,167 11,219 79.2 8.05 12,654 89.3 8.61 8,135 

Educational attainment, 25 years and over

Less than a high school diploma .............................. 9,665 6,104 63.2 7.72 7,506 77.7 7.79 2,627 High school graduates, no college ........................... 35,501 23,603 66.5 7.96 29,206 82.3 8.24 9,866 Some college or associate degree ........................... 33,149 23,383 70.5 7.83 27,864 84.1 8.13 12,667 Bachelor’s degree and higher ................................... 49,050 35,610 72.6 7.59 43,384 88.4 8.09 17,323 

 1 Includes work at main and other job(s), and excludes travel related to work. 2 Number was derived by multiplying the "Total employed" by the percent of employed persons who worked on an average weekday. 3 Number was derived by multiplying the "Total employed" by the percent of employed persons who worked on an average Saturday, Sunday, and holiday 4 Includes workers whose hours vary.

NOTE: Unless otherwise specified, data refer to persons 15 years and over.
Table 5. Employed persons working 1 on main job and time spent working on days worked by class of worker, occup

and day of week, 2011 annual averages

(Numbers in thousands)

Characteristic Total employed

Employed persons who worked on

an average day

Employed persons who worked on

an average weekday

Employed pers

an average Sa

h

Number Percent of employed Average hours of work Number 2 Percent of employed Average hours of work Number 3 Pe

em

Class of worker (main job only)

Wage and salary workers ......................................... 139,058 93,326 67.1 7.62 113,625 81.7 7.93 44,910 Self-employed workers 4 ........................................... 9,965 6,352 63.7 6.54 7,212 72.4 7.02 4,151 

Occupation (main job only) 5

Management, business, and financial operations .... 23,525 17,499 74.4 7.86 21,936 93.2 8.39 7,034 Professional and related ........................................... 34,315 23,461 68.4 7.26 28,803 83.9 7.70 10,856 Service ...................................................................... 27,015 16,484 61.0 7.14 18,467 68.4 7.28 11,621 Sales and related ...................................................... 15,467 11,052 71.5 7.21 12,344 79.8 7.45 7,655 Office and administrative support ............................. 18,628 12,247 65.7 7.48 15,416 82.8 7.67 5,004 Farming, fishing, and forestry ................................... 7 ( ) 7 ( ) 7 ( ) 8.53 7 ( ) 7 ( ) 8.55 7 ( ) 

Construction and extraction ...................................... 7,815 4,794 61.3 8.26 5,988 76.6 8.34 1,217 Installation, maintenance, and repair ........................ 5,349 3,690 69.0 8.21 4,811 89.9 8.48 1,342 Production ................................................................ 7,865 4,926 62.6 8.22 6,310 80.2 8.51 2,018 Transportation and material moving ......................... 8,399 5,219 62.1 8.13 6,399 76.2 8.42 2,342 

Earnings of full-time wage and salary workers

(single jobholders only) 6

$0 - $520 .................................................................. 24,083 16,346 67.9 7.92 20,003 83.1 8.12 7,747 $521 - $810 .............................................................. 23,911 17,134 71.7 8.10 21,474 89.8 8.32 6,566 $811 - $1,240 ........................................................... 23,882 16,508 69.1 8.17 20,659 86.5 8.44 5,954 $1,241 and higher ..................................................... 23,866 17,017 71.3 8.16 21,323 89.3 8.78 7,650 

 1 Includes work at main job only and excludes travel related to work. 2 Number was derived by multiplying the "Total employed" by the percent of employed persons who worked on an average weekday. 3 Number was derived by multiplying the "Total employed" by the percent of employed persons who worked on an average Saturday, Sunday, and holiday 4 Includes self-employed workers whose businesses are unincorporated. Self-employed workers whose businesses are incorporated are classified as wa

workers.

 5 2011 estimates mark the introduction of the 2010 Census occupational classification system into the American Time Use Survey. This classification sys

the 2010 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC). No historical data have been revised. Data for 2011 are not strictly comparable with earlier years.

 6 These values are based on usual weekly earnings. The earnings data are limited to wage and salary workers (both incorporated and unincorporated se

are excluded). Each earnings range represents approximately 25 percent of full-time wage and salary workers who held only one job.

7 Estimate is suppressed because it does not meet the American Time Use Survey publication standards.

NOTE: Data refer to persons 15 years and over.
Table 6. Employed persons working 1 at home and at their workplace and time spent working at each location by full- 

status and sex, jobholding status, and educational attainment, 2011 annual averages

(Numbers in thousands)

Characteristic Total employed

Employed persons who worked on

an average day

Employed persons who worked at

their workplace on an average day 2

Employed pers

home on an 

Number Percent of employed Average hours of work Number Percent of those who worked Average hours of work at workplace Number Pe

tho

w

Full- and part-time status and sex

Total, 15 years and over 4 ........................................ 149,386 101,723 68.1 7.64 86,637 85.2 7.86 21,699  Full-time workers ................................................... 115,758 83,389 72.0 8.10 72,057 86.4 8.27 17,276  Part-time workers .................................................. 33,628 18,334 54.5 5.55 14,580 79.5 5.84 4,423  Men 4 ....................................................................... 80,057 56,108 70.1 8.00 48,166 85.8 8.21 11,568 

 Full-time workers ................................................... 67,465 49,523 73.4 8.30 42,976 86.8 8.47 10,150  Part-time workers .................................................. 12,592 6,585 52.3 5.72 5,190 78.8 6.02 1,418  Women 4 .................................................................. 69,329 45,616 65.8 7.21 38,471 84.3 7.43 10,131 

 Full-time workers ................................................... 48,292 33,866 70.1 7.81 29,081 85.9 7.97 7,126  Part-time workers .................................................. 21,036 11,750 55.9 5.46 9,390 79.9 5.74 3,005 

Jobholding status

Single jobholders ...................................................... 135,219 90,504 66.9 7.59 77,549 85.7 7.82 18,268 Multiple jobholders .................................................... 14,167 11,219 79.2 8.05 9,088 81.0 8.19 3,431 

Educational attainment, 25 years and over

Less than a high school diploma .............................. 9,665 6,104 63.2 7.72 5,645 92.5 7.49 669 High school graduates, no college ........................... 35,501 23,603 66.5 7.96 21,327 90.4 8.14 2,640 Some college or associate degree ........................... 33,149 23,383 70.5 7.83 20,192 86.4 8.01 4,693 Bachelor’s degree and higher ................................... 49,050 35,610 72.6 7.59 27,754 77.9 7.99 12,662 

 1 Includes work at main and other job(s) and at locations other than home or workplace. Excludes travel related to work. 2 Individuals may have worked at more than one location. 3 "Working at home" includes any time persons did work at home and is not restricted to persons whose usual workplace is their home. 4 Includes workers whose hours vary.

NOTE: Unless otherwise specified, data refer to persons 15 years and over.
Table 7. Employed persons working on main job 1 at home and at their workplace and time spent working at each loc

of worker, occupation, and earnings, 2011 annual averages

(Numbers in thousands)

Characteristic Total employed

Employed persons who worked on

an average day

Employed persons who worked at

their workplace on an average day 2

Employed pers

home on an 

Number Percent of employed Average hours of work Number Percent of those who worked Average hours of work at workplace Number Pe

tho

w

Class of worker (main job only)

Wage and salary workers ......................................... 139,058 93,326 67.1 7.62 81,347 87.2 7.83 17,012 Self-employed workers 4 ........................................... 9,965 6,352 63.7 6.54 3,642 57.3 6.84 3,553 

Occupation (main job only) 5

Management, business, and financial operations .... 23,525 17,499 74.4 7.86 13,803 78.9 8.24 5,981 Professional and related ........................................... 34,315 23,461 68.4 7.26 18,393 78.4 7.84 7,855 Service ...................................................................... 27,015 16,484 61.0 7.14 14,659 88.9 7.18 1,564 Sales and related ...................................................... 15,467 11,052 71.5 7.21 9,314 84.3 7.37 2,214 Office and administrative support ............................. 18,628 12,247 65.7 7.48 11,205 91.5 7.66 1,564 Farming, fishing, and forestry ................................... 7 ( ) 7 ( ) 7 ( ) 8.53 7 ( ) 7 ( ) 8.63 7 ( ) 

Construction and extraction ...................................... 7,815 4,794 61.3 8.26 4,535 94.6 8.37 486 Installation, maintenance, and repair ........................ 5,349 3,690 69.0 8.21 3,467 94.0 8.30 416 Production ................................................................ 7,865 4,926 62.6 8.22 4,743 96.3 8.21 254 Transportation and material moving ......................... 8,399 5,219 62.1 8.13 4,495 86.1 7.99 274 

Earnings of full-time wage and salary workers

(single jobholders only) 6

$0 - $520 .................................................................. 24,083 16,346 67.9 7.92 15,318 93.7 7.94 1,151 $521 - $810 .............................................................. 23,911 17,134 71.7 8.10 15,859 92.6 8.17 1,928 $811 - $1,240 ........................................................... 23,882 16,508 69.1 8.17 14,447 87.5 8.37 3,279 $1,241 and higher ..................................................... 23,866 17,017 71.3 8.16 14,083 82.8 8.52 5,069 

 1 Includes work at main job only and at locations other than home or workplace. Excludes travel related to work. 2 Individuals may have worked at more than one location. 3 "Working at home" includes any time persons did work at home and is not restricted to persons whose usual workplace is their home. 4 Includes self-employed workers whose businesses are unincorporated. Self-employed workers whose businesses are incorporated are classified as wa

workers.

 5 2011 estimates mark the introduction of the 2010 Census occupational classification system into the American Time Use Survey. This classification sys

the 2010 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC). No historical data have been revised. Data for 2011 are not strictly comparable with earlier years.

 6 These values are based on usual weekly earnings. The earnings data are limited to wage and salary workers (both incorporated and unincorporated se

are excluded). Each earnings range represents approximately 25 percent of full-time wage and salary workers who held only one job.

7 Estimate is suppressed because it does not meet the American Time Use Survey publication standards.

NOTE: Data refer to persons 15 years and over.
Table 8. Time spent in primary activities 1 for the civilian population 18 years and over by employment status, presen

age of youngest household child, and sex, 2011 annual averages

Total

Activity

Average hours per day spent in primary activities

Youngest household child under 6 Youngest household child 6-17 No household children 

Total Men Women Total Men Women Total Men 

Total, all activities 2 ......................................................... 24.00 24.00 24.00 24.00 24.00 24.00 24.00 24.00 

 Personal care activities ................................................. 9.24 8.90 9.50 9.29 9.13 9.44 9.56 9.29  Sleeping ..................................................................... 8.56 8.33 8.74 8.52 8.45 8.58 8.76 8.66  Eating and drinking ....................................................... 1.15 1.25 1.06 1.17 1.17 1.16 1.30 1.32  Household activities ...................................................... 1.90 1.32 2.34 1.90 1.30 2.45 1.80 1.47  Housework ................................................................. .70 .32 1.00 .65 .22 1.04 .56 .28  Food preparation and cleanup ................................... .72 .38 .98 .66 .33 .96 .51 .30  Lawn and garden care ............................................... .13 .19 .08 .16 .21 .12 .23 .31  Household management ........................................... .12 .10 .14 .12 .10 .13 .13 .11  Purchasing goods and services .................................... .76 .62 .86 .73 .56 .88 .74 .66  Consumer goods purchases ...................................... .40 .33 .46 .38 .28 .48 .37 .32  Professional and personal care services ................... .07 .03 .10 .06 .04 .07 .08 .06  Caring for and helping household members ................. 1.94 1.32 2.41 .82 .57 1.04 .06 .05  Caring for and helping household children ................ 1.71 1.14 2.14 .62 .41 .81 – –  Caring for and helping nonhousehold members ........... .11 .13 .10 .17 .17 .17 .25 .22  Caring for and helping nonhousehold adults ............. .04 .05 .02 .08 .09 .06 .08 .09  Working and work-related activities ........................... 3.98 5.34 2.96 4.29 5.12 3.52 3.51 4.06 

 Working ................................................................... 3.60 4.83 2.67 3.83 4.57 3.15 3.15 3.66 

 Educational activities .................................................... .26 .20 .31 .33 .36 .31 .25 .28  Attending class .......................................................... .09 .06 .12 .19 .23 .15 .10 .13  Homework and research ........................................... .13 .11 .15 .11 .09 .13 .12 .12  Organizational, civic, and religious activities ................ .28 .29 .27 .38 .39 .38 .36 .27  Religious and spiritual activities ................................. .14 .16 .13 .16 .14 .18 .16 .11  Volunteering (organizational and civic activities) ....... .10 .08 .11 .17 .19 .15 .15 .13  Leisure and sports ........................................................ 3.98 4.25 3.79 4.50 4.81 4.20 5.71 5.98  Socializing and communicating ................................. .76 .78 .75 .64 .60 .68 .68 .58  Watching television .................................................... 2.09 2.20 2.00 2.31 2.50 2.14 3.13 3.40  Participating in sports, exercise, and recreation ........ .21 .26 .18 .32 .41 .23 .28 .36  Telephone calls, mail, and e-mail ................................. .09 .06 .12 .12 .09 .14 .18 .13  Other activities, not elsewhere classified ...................... .30 .32 .29 .32 .32 .31 .27 .27 See footnotes at end of table.
Table 8. Time spent in primary activities 1 for the civilian population 18 years and over by employment status, presen

age of youngest household child, and sex, 2011 annual averages — Continued

Employed

Activity

Average hours per day spent in primary activities

Youngest household child under 6 Youngest household child 6-17 No household children 

Total Men Women Total Men Women Total Men 

Total, all activities 2 ......................................................... 24.00 24.00 24.00 24.00 24.00 24.00 24.00 24.00 

 Personal care activities ................................................. 8.96 8.77 9.16 9.02 8.93 9.12 9.21 8.96  Sleeping ..................................................................... 8.27 8.18 8.37 8.24 8.26 8.22 8.42 8.33  Eating and drinking ....................................................... 1.16 1.27 1.05 1.18 1.21 1.14 1.25 1.31  Household activities ...................................................... 1.48 1.24 1.75 1.66 1.22 2.16 1.46 1.24  Housework ................................................................. .49 .25 .76 .55 .20 .95 .45 .24  Food preparation and cleanup ................................... .53 .36 .71 .54 .31 .80 .39 .25  Lawn and garden care ............................................... .12 .19 .05 .16 .21 .09 .18 .22  Household management ........................................... .11 .10 .14 .12 .11 .13 .09 .09  Purchasing goods and services .................................... .74 .65 .85 .69 .54 .86 .67 .60  Consumer goods purchases ...................................... .40 .34 .46 .36 .25 .48 .34 .29  Professional and personal care services ................... .06 .03 .09 .04 .03 .05 .06 .04  Caring for and helping household members ................. 1.65 1.24 2.10 .73 .58 .90 .05 .05  Caring for and helping household children ................ 1.43 1.08 1.82 .53 .41 .67 – –  Caring for and helping nonhousehold members ........... .10 .09 .11 .13 .12 .14 .23 .21  Caring for and helping nonhousehold adults ............. .03 .03 .03 .06 .06 .07 .08 .09  Working and work-related activities ........................... 5.66 6.29 4.98 5.80 6.29 5.24 5.78 6.18 

 Working ................................................................... 5.17 5.72 4.56 5.27 5.71 4.78 5.29 5.66 

 Educational activities .................................................... .16 .09 .23 .24 .26 .21 .21 .21  Attending class .......................................................... .06 4 ( ) .08 .12 .16 .08 .08 .09 

 Homework and research ........................................... .08 .04 .12 .10 .09 .13 .10 .09  Organizational, civic, and religious activities ................ .26 .26 .27 .33 .36 .29 .28 .21  Religious and spiritual activities ................................. .12 .13 .11 .14 .13 .15 .11 .09  Volunteering (organizational and civic activities) ....... .11 .09 .13 .14 .16 .11 .12 .09  Leisure and sports ........................................................ 3.51 3.78 3.21 3.83 4.09 3.54 4.49 4.70  Socializing and communicating ................................. .68 .71 .65 .60 .57 .65 .61 .51  Watching television .................................................... 1.78 1.97 1.58 1.98 2.18 1.75 2.37 2.64  Participating in sports, exercise, and recreation ........ .24 .27 .21 .27 .32 .20 .29 .33  Telephone calls, mail, and e-mail ................................. .07 .06 .08 .10 .07 .14 .14 .10  Other activities, not elsewhere classified ...................... .25 .27 .22 .29 .32 .25 .21 .22 

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 8. Time spent in primary activities 1 for the civilian population 18 years and over by employment status, presen

age of youngest household child, and sex, 2011 annual averages — Continued

Not employed

Activity

Average hours per day spent in primary activities

Youngest household child under 6 Youngest household child 6-17 No household children 

Total Men Women Total Men Women Total Men 

Total, all activities 2 ......................................................... 24.00 24.00 24.00 24.00 24.00 24.00 24.00 24.00 

 Personal care activities ................................................. 9.88 9.58 9.97 10.00 9.93 10.04 10.06 9.87  Sleeping ..................................................................... 9.24 9.14 9.26 9.25 9.25 9.25 9.25 9.27  Eating and drinking ....................................................... 1.10 1.17 1.09 1.14 1.03 1.20 1.36 1.35  Household activities ...................................................... 2.85 1.77 3.16 2.53 1.61 3.02 2.29 1.90  Housework ................................................................. 1.18 .66 1.33 .90 .30 1.22 .71 .36  Food preparation and cleanup ................................... 1.17 .51 1.36 .97 .41 1.27 .70 .40  Lawn and garden care ............................................... .14 .19 .13 .19 .21 .17 .32 .48  Household management ........................................... .14 .14 .14 .11 .07 .14 .19 .15  Purchasing goods and services .................................... .79 .51 .88 .81 .63 .91 .85 .78  Consumer goods purchases ...................................... .42 .29 .46 .44 .36 .48 .41 .37  Professional and personal care services ................... .10 4 ( ) .12 .09 .05 .11 .12 .08 

 Caring for and helping household members ................. 2.61 1.77 2.85 1.05 .56 1.31 .07 .05  Caring for and helping household children ................ 2.33 1.43 2.59 .83 .38 1.07 – –  Caring for and helping nonhousehold members ........... .14 4 ( ) .07 .27 4 ( ) .21 .28 .23 

 Caring for and helping nonhousehold adults ............. .05 4 ( ) .02 .11 4 ( ) .05 .09 .08  Working and work-related activities 3 ........................... .14 .24 .11 .31 4 ( ) 4 ( ) .20 .24  Working 3 ................................................................... ~0 4 ( ) ~0 4 ( ) 4 ( ) 4 ( ) .04 .07  Educational activities .................................................... .51 4 ( ) 4 ( ) .58 .75 4 ( ) .32 .41  Attending class .......................................................... .17 4 ( ) .16 .37 4 ( ) 4 ( ) .15 .19  Homework and research ........................................... .26 4 ( ) .19 .14 .13 .14 .14 .18 

 Organizational, civic, and religious activities ................ .31 .42 .28 .53 .53 .53 .48 .38  Religious and spiritual activities ................................. .19 4 ( ) .15 .21 .18 .23 .22 .13  Volunteering (organizational and civic activities) ....... .09 4 ( ) .10 .26 4 ( ) .22 .20 .20 

 Leisure and sports ........................................................ 5.08 6.75 4.60 6.24 7.72 5.46 7.48 8.27  Socializing and communicating ................................. .95 1.17 .89 .74 .75 .73 .79 .71  Watching television .................................................... 2.78 3.46 2.59 3.18 3.78 2.86 4.25 4.77  Participating in sports, exercise, and recreation ........ .16 .25 .13 .45 .75 .29 .28 .40  Telephone calls, mail, and e-mail ................................. .15 .09 .17 .15 .15 .15 .24 .17  Other activities, not elsewhere classified ...................... .42 4 ( ) .38 .39 4 ( ) .41 .36 .35 

 1 A primary activity refers to an individual’s main activity. Other activities done simultaneously are not included. 2 All major activity categories include related travel time. See Technical Note for activity category definitions. 3 Estimates include a small amount of work time done by persons who do not meet the American Time Use Survey definition for employed.

4 Estimate is suppressed because it does not meet the American Time Use Survey publication standards.

~0 Estimate is approximately zero.– Not applicable.
Table 9. Time spent caring for household children under 18 by sex of adult 1 and age of youngest child by day of wee

combined years 2007-11

Childcare activities

Average hours per day spent caring for household childre

Total Weekdays W

Total Men Women Total Men Women Total 

Persons in households with children under 18 years, total:

Caring for household children as a primary activity ................................ 1.33 0.88 1.71 1.41 0.88 1.87 1.1

Physical care ........................................................................................ .44 .24 .62 .47 .24 .66 .3Education-related activities ................................................................... .10 .06 .13 .13 .07 .17 .0Reading to/with children ....................................................................... .04 .02 .05 .04 .03 .05 .0Talking to/with children ......................................................................... .05 .03 .06 .05 .03 .07 .0Playing/doing hobbies with children ..................................................... .29 .26 .32 .27 .23 .31 .3Looking after children ........................................................................... .08 .05 .09 .07 .04 .09 .0Attending children’s events ................................................................... .06 .05 .07 .05 .03 .06 .0Travel related to care of household children ........................................ .17 .11 .22 .21 .13 .27 .0Other childcare activities ...................................................................... .11 .06 .15 .13 .07 .19 .0Persons in households with youngest child 6 to 17 years:

Caring for household children as a primary activity ............................ .78 .53 1.01 .86 .54 1.15 .6

Physical care .................................................................................... .15 .08 .21 .17 .09 .25 .1Education-related activities ............................................................... .11 .07 .16 .15 .08 .20 .0Reading to/with children ................................................................... .02 .01 .02 .02 .01 .02 .0Talking to/with children ..................................................................... .06 .03 .08 .06 .03 .09 .0Playing/doing hobbies with children ................................................. .07 .08 .06 .06 .07 .05 .1Looking after children ....................................................................... .05 .03 .06 .04 .02 .06 .0Attending children’s events ............................................................... .07 .06 .09 .06 .05 .07 .1Travel related to care of household children .................................... .16 .11 .20 .19 .12 .25 .0Other childcare activities .................................................................. .09 .05 .13 .11 .05 .15 .0

Persons in households with youngest child under 6 years:

Caring for household children as a primary activity ............................ 1.97 1.32 2.50 2.06 1.30 2.68 1.7

Physical care .................................................................................... .78 .43 1.07 .81 .43 1.11 .7Education-related activities ............................................................... .08 .05 .11 .11 .06 .14 .0Reading to/with children ................................................................... .06 .04 .07 .06 .05 .07 .0Talking to/with children ..................................................................... .03 .02 .04 .04 .02 .05 .0Playing/doing hobbies with children ................................................. .55 .48 .61 .52 .43 .59 .6Looking after children ....................................................................... .11 .08 .13 .10 .06 .13 .1Attending children’s events ............................................................... .04 .03 .05 .03 .02 .05 .0Travel related to care of household children .................................... .19 .12 .24 .23 .14 .30 .0Other childcare activities .................................................................. .13 .07 .18 .16 .08 .23 .0

 1 Persons 18 years and over living in households with children under 18, whether or not they provided childcare.
Table 10. Time spent providing secondary childcare for household children under 13 by sex of adult 1 and age of you

by day of week, average for the combined years 2007-11

Childcare activities 2

Average hours per day spent caring for household children 3

Total Weekdays Weekends a

Total Men Women Total Men Women Total M

Persons in households with children under 13 years, total .................................... 5.23 4.19 6.10 4.25 3.06 5.24 7.52 6

Caring for household children as a secondary activity in conjunction with:

Personal care activities ..................................................................................... .26 .17 .34 .23 .15 .30 .33 Household activities .......................................................................................... 1.21 .70 1.64 1.03 .49 1.48 1.63 1Purchasing goods and services ........................................................................ .36 .26 .44 .28 .17 .37 .55 Working and work-related activities .................................................................. .20 .18 .22 .23 .19 .26 .14 Eating and drinking ........................................................................................... .65 .58 .72 .53 .44 .61 .93 Leisure and sports ............................................................................................ 2.09 1.96 2.20 1.60 1.40 1.78 3.23 3Other activities .................................................................................................. .45 .34 .55 .35 .24 .44 .70 Persons in households with youngest child 6 to 12 years, total ....................... 4.79 4.01 5.48 3.71 2.92 4.40 7.32 6

Caring for household children as a secondary activity in conjunction with:

Personal care activities ................................................................................. .24 .16 .30 .20 .14 .26 .31 Household activities ...................................................................................... 1.08 .68 1.44 .83 .44 1.18 1.66 1Purchasing goods and services .................................................................... .28 .21 .34 .19 .13 .25 .48 Working and work-related activities .............................................................. .21 .20 .22 .23 .21 .25 .16 Eating and drinking ....................................................................................... .57 .51 .63 .45 .38 .51 .86 Leisure and sports ........................................................................................ 1.97 1.92 2.02 1.50 1.41 1.58 3.09 3Other activities .............................................................................................. .43 .33 .53 .30 .22 .37 .75 

Persons in households with youngest child under 6 years, total ...................... 5.53 4.32 6.51 4.63 3.17 5.80 7.65 6

Caring for household children as a secondary activity in conjunction with:

Personal care activities ................................................................................. .28 .18 .36 .25 .15 .33 .35 Household activities ...................................................................................... 1.30 .72 1.77 1.16 .52 1.68 1.62 1Purchasing goods and services .................................................................... .42 .30 .51 .34 .20 .45 .60 Working and work-related activities .............................................................. .20 .17 .22 .23 .18 .26 .13 Eating and drinking ....................................................................................... .71 .62 .78 .59 .48 .68 .98 Leisure and sports ........................................................................................ 2.17 1.99 2.32 1.68 1.39 1.91 3.32 3Other activities .............................................................................................. .46 .34 .56 .38 .25 .48 .66 

 1 Persons 18 years and over living in households with children under 13 years, whether or not they provided childcare. 2 All major activity categories include related travel time. See Technical Note for activity category definitions. 3 Secondary childcare time is defined as time one has a child under 13 years "in his or her care" while doing something else as a main activity; information 

childcare is not collected for children over 12 years. Estimates include a small amount of care provided to own, nonhousehold children.
Table 11. Time spent in leisure and sports activities for the civilian population by selected characteristics, 2011 annu

Characteristic

Average hours per day spent in leisure and sports activities

Total, all leisure and

sports activities

Participating in

sports,

exercise, and

recreation

Socializing andcommunicating Watching TV Reading Relaxing/ thinking P

a

u

Total,

all

days

Weekdays

Weekends

and

holidays

Weekdays

Weekends

and

holidays

Weekdays

Weekends

and

holidays

Weekdays

Weekends

and

holidays

Weekdays

Weekends

and

holidays

Weekdays

Weekends

and

holidays

W

d

Sex

Men ....................................................... 5.55 5.00 6.84 0.35 0.49 0.51 0.91 2.73 3.60 0.22 0.30 0.28 0.34 Women ................................................. 4.89 4.48 5.87 .21 .25 .59 1.18 2.41 2.80 .34 .37 .27 .33 

Age

Total, 15 years and over ....................... 5.21 4.73 6.34 .28 .36 .55 1.05 2.57 3.19 .28 .33 .28 .34  15 to 19 years .................................... 5.98 5.53 7.06 .67 .75 .88 1.34 1.95 2.69 .16 .12 .18 .20  20 to 24 years .................................... 5.09 4.84 5.69 .38 .55 .71 1.13 2.17 2.40 .15 .05 .23 3 ( ) 

 25 to 34 years .................................... 4.24 3.63 5.65 .27 .40 .48 1.24 1.89 2.57 .14 .17 .18 .23  35 to 44 years .................................... 4.23 3.60 5.68 .21 .41 .46 1.08 1.93 2.89 .20 .20 .24 .24  45 to 54 years .................................... 4.69 4.11 6.05 .19 .28 .46 .87 2.49 3.24 .24 .31 .22 .36  55 to 64 years .................................... 5.55 5.14 6.54 .24 .26 .52 .93 3.07 3.51 .33 .49 .31 .36  65 to 74 years .................................... 6.90 6.60 7.63 .28 .18 .67 .92 3.77 4.47 .57 .66 .45 .53  75 years and over .............................. 7.39 7.07 8.18 .16 .16 .50 .95 4.37 4.54 .73 .97 .61 .69 

Race and Hispanic or Latino

ethnicity

White .................................................... 5.14 4.64 6.36 .28 .39 .53 1.07 2.51 3.13 .30 .36 .25 .30 Black or African American .................... 5.77 5.45 6.51 .25 .20 .62 .99 3.22 3.74 .15 .11 .41 .57 Hispanic or Latino ethnicity ................... 4.79 4.30 5.93 .31 .32 .51 1.22 2.48 3.06 .13 .10 .26 .34 

Employment status

Employed .............................................. 4.18 3.57 5.64 .24 .38 .46 1.03 1.92 2.74 .18 .25 .20 .28  Full-time workers ............................... 3.95 3.24 5.66 .21 .41 .42 1.03 1.77 2.80 .16 .24 .18 .27  Part-time workers .............................. 4.95 4.70 5.58 .34 .27 .59 1.04 2.43 2.52 .23 .26 .26 .31 Not employed ....................................... 6.85 6.60 7.42 .34 .34 .70 1.08 3.60 3.88 .45 .47 .40 .42 

Earnings of full-time wage and

salary workers

(single jobholders only) 2

$0 - $520 .............................................. 4.15 3.54 5.57 .18 .36 .40 .96 2.12 2.99 .09 .12 .25 .28 $521 - $810 .......................................... 4.10 3.30 6.05 .23 .38 .43 1.31 1.72 3.07 .16 .23 .22 .23 $811 - $1,240 ....................................... 4.04 3.27 6.01 .22 .54 .40 1.01 1.85 2.97 .15 .28 .18 .23 $1,241 and higher ................................. 3.77 2.87 5.72 .22 .46 .39 1.05 1.50 2.47 .28 .39 .12 .32 See footnotes at end of table.
Table 11. Time spent in leisure and sports activities for the civilian population by selected characteristics, 2011 annu

Continued

Characteristic

Average hours per day spent in leisure and sports activities

Total, all leisure and

sports activities

Participating in

sports,

exercise, and

recreation

Socializing andcommunicating Watching TV Reading Relaxing/ thinking P

a

u

Total,

all

days

Weekdays

Weekends

and

holidays

Weekdays

Weekends

and

holidays

Weekdays

Weekends

and

holidays

Weekdays

Weekends

and

holidays

Weekdays

Weekends

and

holidays

Weekdays

Weekends

and

holidays

W

d

Presence and age of children

No household children under 18 ........... 5.74 5.27 6.83 0.27 0.36 0.54 1.04 2.96 3.46 0.35 0.43 0.30 0.37 Household children under 18 ................ 4.36 3.87 5.54 .30 .36 .58 1.07 1.93 2.74 .16 .17 .24 .27  Children 13 to 17 years, none

younger ........................................... 4.87 4.49 5.82 .34 .47 .60 .83 2.22 2.95 .22 .26 .25 .29 

 Children 6 to 12 years, none younger 4.42 3.81 5.84 .39 .38 .54 1.06 1.82 2.77 .16 .22 .28 .35  Youngest child under 6 years ............ 4.05 3.58 5.17 .21 .29 .60 1.19 1.87 2.61 .14 .09 .20 .20 

Marital status and sex

Married, spouse present ....................... 4.80 4.25 6.10 .23 .32 .51 1.02 2.39 3.14 .28 .37 .26 .35  Men .................................................... 5.10 4.47 6.60 .26 .43 .48 .89 2.64 3.63 .25 .36 .28 .40  Women .............................................. 4.50 4.03 5.59 .21 .21 .55 1.15 2.14 2.65 .31 .38 .23 .30 Other marital statuses .......................... 5.63 5.23 6.60 .33 .41 .59 1.08 2.74 3.24 .28 .29 .30 .32  Men .................................................... 6.05 5.61 7.11 .46 .56 .55 .92 2.84 3.55 .18 .23 .28 .27  Women .............................................. 5.27 4.90 6.15 .21 .27 .63 1.22 2.66 2.96 .36 .35 .31 .36 

Educational attainment, 25 years

and over

Less than a high school diploma .......... 6.12 5.69 7.01 .18 .27 .57 .93 3.78 4.35 .13 .13 .52 .66 High school graduates, no college ....... 5.71 5.28 6.77 .18 .24 .49 .98 3.31 3.81 .29 .37 .40 .44 Some college or associate degree ....... 4.93 4.49 5.99 .23 .27 .45 1.02 2.55 3.13 .32 .34 .25 .26 Bachelor’s degree and higher ............... 4.42 3.77 5.94 .30 .41 .53 1.07 1.76 2.62 .38 .53 .14 .24 

 1 Includes other leisure and sports activities, not elsewhere classified, and travel related to leisure and sports activities. 2 These values are based on usual weekly earnings. The earnings data are limited to wage and salary workers (both incorporated and unincorporated se

excluded). Each earnings range represents approximately 25 percent of full-time wage and salary workers who held only one job. 3 Estimate is suppressed because it does not meet the American Time Use Survey publication standards.

NOTE: Unless otherwise specified, data refer to persons 15 years and over. Persons of Hispanic or Latino ethnicity may be of any race.
Table 12. Average hours per day spent in primary activities 1 for the civilian population, 2011 quarterly and annual av

(Not seasonally adjusted)

Activity

2011

Quarterly averages 

I II III IV

Total, all activities 2 ........................................................................................................... 24.00 24.00 24.00 24.00 

 Personal care activities ................................................................................................... 9.54 9.47 9.40 9.56  Sleeping ....................................................................................................................... 8.76 8.66 8.64 8.80 

 Eating and drinking ......................................................................................................... 1.23 1.24 1.30 1.19  Household activities ........................................................................................................ 1.59 1.84 1.91 1.75  Housework ................................................................................................................... .56 .57 .60 .58 

 Food preparation and cleanup ..................................................................................... .57 .53 .56 .57  Lawn and garden care ................................................................................................. .06 .31 .29 .12 

 Household management ............................................................................................. .12 .13 .13 .12  Purchasing goods and services ...................................................................................... .65 .74 .72 .78 

 Consumer goods purchases ........................................................................................ .33 .37 .36 .42 

 Professional and personal care services ..................................................................... .07 .07 .07 .08 

 Caring for and helping household members ................................................................... .52 .52 .47 .52 

 Caring for and helping household children .................................................................. .40 .41 .35 .42 

 Caring for and helping nonhousehold members ............................................................. .17 .22 .29 .15 

 Caring for and helping nonhousehold adults ............................................................... .06 .09 .10 .04 

 Working and work-related activities ................................................................................ 3.60 3.65 3.51 3.52  Working ....................................................................................................................... 3.24 3.30 3.14 3.15 

 Educational activities ...................................................................................................... .56 .46 .33 .55  Attending class ............................................................................................................ .36 .27 .17 .30 

 Homework and research ............................................................................................. .15 .15 .11 .19  Organizational, civic, and religious activities .................................................................. .35 .34 .35 .38 

 Religious and spiritual activities ................................................................................... .16 .15 .15 .16 

 Volunteering (organizational and civic activities) ......................................................... .15 .14 .14 .17 

 Leisure and sports .......................................................................................................... 5.29 5.12 5.26 5.17  Socializing and communicating ................................................................................... .57 .76 .76 .72 

 Watching television ...................................................................................................... 2.99 2.67 2.60 2.75  Participating in sports, exercise, and recreation .......................................................... .27 .31 .38 .26 

 Telephone calls, mail, and e-mail ................................................................................... .18 .14 .15 .16  Other activities, not elsewhere classified ........................................................................ .31 .26 .32 .28 

 1 A primary activity refers to an individual’s main activity. Other activities done simultaneously are not included. 2 All major activity categories include related travel time. See Technical Note for activity category definitions.

NOTE: Data refer to persons 15 years and over.
Table 13. Number and percent of the U.S. population and various subpopulations who were eldercare providers 1 by s

averages

(Numbers in thousands)

Total Men W

Total civilian

noninstitutionalpopulation

Eldercare Providers 1 Total civilian

noninstitutionalpopulation

Eldercare Providers 1 Total civilian

noninstitutionalpopulation

E

Number Percent of population Number Percent of men N

Age

Total, 15 years and over ................................................. 243,651 39,794 16.3 118,356 17,652 14.9 125,296  15 to 24 years .............................................................. 42,225 5,418 12.8 21,512 2,961 13.8 20,713  25 to 34 years .............................................................. 41,365 4,185 10.1 20,712 2,076 10.0 20,654  35 to 44 years .............................................................. 39,498 5,223 13.2 19,446 2,293 11.8 20,052  45 to 54 years .............................................................. 43,850 10,198 23.3 21,455 4,117 19.2 22,395  55 to 64 years .............................................................. 36,991 8,303 22.4 17,802 3,527 19.8 19,189  65 years and over ........................................................ 39,721 6,468 16.3 17,430 2,679 15.4 22,292 

Race and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity 2, 3

White .............................................................................. 198,911 33,302 16.7 97,631 14,750 15.1 101,280 Black or African American .............................................. 29,347 4,671 15.9 13,178 1,954 14.8 16,169 Hispanic or Latino ethnicity ............................................. 35,267 3,510 10.0 18,176 1,909 10.5 17,091 

Employment status

Employed ........................................................................ 149,386 25,334 17.0 80,057 12,084 15.1 69,329  Full-time workers ......................................................... 115,758 18,916 16.3 67,465 9,981 14.8 48,292  Part-time workers ........................................................ 33,628 6,418 19.1 12,592 2,103 16.7 21,036 Not employed ................................................................. 94,266 14,460 15.3 38,299 5,568 14.5 55,967 

Educational attainment, 25 years and over

High school graduate or less .......................................... 86,052 11,930 13.9 42,240 5,300 12.5 43,812 Some college or associate degree ................................. 50,397 9,808 19.5 22,741 3,840 16.9 27,656 Bachelor’s degree and higher ......................................... 64,977 12,639 19.5 31,863 5,551 17.4 33,115 

Parent of household children under 18 years

Parent of 1 or more household children ......................... 67,880 9,040 13.3 29,899 3,707 12.4 37,981 Not a parent of a household child ................................... 175,772 30,755 17.5 88,457 13,945 15.8 87,315 

 1 Eldercare providers are those who in the previous 3 to 4 months cared for someone with a condition related to aging. Estimates were calculated for pers

least one person age 65 or over.

 2 Persons of Hispanic or Latino ethnicity may be of any race. 3 Not all subcategories are shown.

NOTE: Unless otherwise specified, data refer to persons 15 years and over.
Table 14. Number and percent of eldercare providers 1 by sex and selected characteristics, 2011 annual averages

(Numbers in thousands)

Eldercare providers 1

Total Men 

Number Percent Number Percent Numb

Total, 15 years and over ......................................................................................... 39,794 100.0 17,652 100.0 22,1

Parent of household children under 18 years

Parent of 1 or more household children ................................................................. 9,040 22.7 3,707 21.0 5,3Not a parent of a household child ........................................................................... 30,755 77.3 13,945 79.0 16,8

Number of care recipients

Caring for 1 person ................................................................................................. 27,416 68.9 11,579 65.6 15,8Caring for 2 persons ............................................................................................... 9,044 22.7 4,470 25.3 4,5Caring for 3 or more persons .................................................................................. 3,334 8.4 1,604 9.1 1,7

Relationship to care recipient

Total, all eldercare providers 2 ................................................................................ 39,794 100.0 17,652 100.0 22,1

 Caring for a spouse or unmarried partner 3 ......................................................... 1,731 4.3 696 3.9 1,0

 Caring for a parent ............................................................................................... 16,879 42.4 7,097 40.2 9,7 Caring for a grandparent 4 ................................................................................... 7,605 19.1 3,376 19.1 4,2

 Caring for another related person ........................................................................ 8,253 20.7 4,281 24.3 3,9 Caring for someone else ..................................................................................... 10,095 25.4 4,499 25.5 5,5 Eldercare providers caring for 1 person only ....................................................... 27,416 100.0 11,579 100.0 15,8 Caring for a spouse or unmarried partner 3 ...................................................... 1,516 5.5 622 5.4 8

 Caring for a parent ............................................................................................ 11,436 41.7 4,627 40.0 6,8 Caring for a grandparent 4 ................................................................................ 4,895 17.9 1,979 17.1 2,9

 Caring for another related person ..................................................................... 4,807 17.5 2,377 20.5 2,4 Caring for someone else .................................................................................. 4,762 17.4 1,973 17.0 2,7

Care of household or nonhousehold members

Provided eldercare to household members only .................................................... 5,200 13.1 2,618 14.8 2,5

Provided eldercare to nonhousehold members only .............................................. 33,886 85.2 14,628 82.9 19,2Provided eldercare to both household and nonhousehold persons ....................... 708 1.8 406 2.3 3

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 14. Number and percent of eldercare providers 1 by sex and selected characteristics, 2011 annual averages—C

(Numbers in thousands)

Eldercare providers 1

Total Men 

Number Percent Number Percent Numb

Frequency of care 5

Provided care daily ................................................................................................. 8,076 20.3 3,403 19.3 4,6Provided care several times a week ....................................................................... 9,399 23.6 4,332 24.5 5,0Provided care once a week .................................................................................... 7,944 20.0 3,866 21.9 4,0Provided care several times a month ..................................................................... 8,069 20.3 3,458 19.6 4,6Provided care once a month ................................................................................... 4,513 11.3 1,881 10.7 2,6Other ....................................................................................................................... 1,793 4.5 712 4.0 1,0

Duration of care 6

Provided care less than 1 year ............................................................................... 9,552 24.0 3,755 21.3 5,7Provided care 1 to 2 years ...................................................................................... 10,417 26.2 4,645 26.3 5,7Provided care 3 to 4 years ...................................................................................... 6,095 15.3 2,752 15.6 3,3Provided care 5 years or more ............................................................................... 13,730 34.5 6,501 36.8 7,2

 1 Eldercare providers are those who in the previous 3 to 4 months cared for someone with a condition related to aging. Estimates were calculated for pers

least one person age 65 or over.

 2 Estimates in relationship subcategories sum to more than 100 percent because some eldercare providers cared for more than one person. 3 Care for a spouse or partner may be underreported. See the Technical Note for more information. 4 Persons caring for a grandparent with whom they lived are included in the category "Caring for another related person." 5 Survey participants were asked how often they provided care in the past 3 to 4 months; this information was used to categorize them by frequency of ca

time and percent estimates were measured using information about care provided on the diary day.

 6 For persons who provided eldercare to more than 1 person, the duration of care is calculated based on the person for whom they had cared the longest.

NOTE: Data refer to persons 15 years and over.
Table 15. Percent of eldercare providers 1 who provided care and the time they provided this care by day of week and 

characteristics, 2011 annual averages

(Numbers in thousands)

Number of

eldercare

providers

Percent of eldercare providers 1

who provided care per day

Average hours per day eldercare

providers 1 spent providing care

Average h

providers 1 

days they 

Total, all

days Weekdays

Weekends

and

holidays

Total, all

days Weekdays

Weekends

and

holidays

Total, all

days 

Total, 15 years and over ................................................. 39,794 23.6 22.2 26.7 0.74 0.69 0.84 3.12 

Sex

Men ................................................................................. 17,652 22.2 21.2 24.3 .57 .54 .65 2.58 Women ........................................................................... 22,142 24.8 23.0 28.5 .87 .81 .99 3.50 

Age

15 to 24 years ................................................................. 5,418 14.6 15.0 ( 8 ) .14 .12 ( 8 ) .97 

25 to 34 years ................................................................. 4,185 11.2 9.2 15.0 ( 8 ) ( 8 ) ( 8 ) ( 8 ) 

35 to 44 years ................................................................. 5,223 19.0 18.8 19.6 .46 .46 .46 2.42 45 to 54 years ................................................................. 10,198 25.9 24.8 28.0 .93 .95 .90 3.60 55 to 64 years ................................................................. 8,303 27.1 22.9 36.0 .92 .73 1.35 3.42 65 years and over ........................................................... 6,468 35.0 34.3 36.6 1.13 1.13 1.13 3.23 

Race and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity 2,3

White .............................................................................. 33,302 23.7 22.2 26.8 .71 .65 .84 3.02 Black or African American .............................................. 4,671 24.8 23.6 27.7 .81 .81 .82 3.27 Hispanic or Latino ethnicity ............................................. 3,510 29.3 ( 8 ) 21.2 .73 ( 8 ) .55 2.51 

Employment status

Employed ........................................................................ 25,334 19.0 16.8 23.7 .46 .38 .62 2.41  Full-time workers .......................................................... 18,916 17.7 15.8 21.6 .47 .38 .63 2.63  Part-time workers ......................................................... 6,418 22.7 19.4 30.6 .43 .36 .59 1.89 Not employed ................................................................. 14,460 31.8 31.5 32.3 1.23 1.22 1.24 3.86 

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 15. Percent of eldercare providers 1 who provided care and the time they provided this care by day of week and 

characteristics, 2011 annual averages—Continued

(Numbers in thousands)

Number of

eldercare

providers

Percent of eldercare providers 1

who provided care per day

Average hours per day eldercare

providers 1 spent providing care

Average h

providers 1 

days they 

Total, all

days Weekdays

Weekends

and

holidays

Total, all

days Weekdays

Weekends

and

holidays

Total, all

days 

Educational attainment, 25 years and over

High school graduate or less .......................................... 11,930 28.2 27.2 30.2 0.89 0.89 0.88 3.14 Some college or associate degree ................................. 9,808 22.9 20.2 28.7 .90 .84 1.04 3.93 Bachelor’s degree and higher ......................................... 12,639 23.7 22.3 26.6 .72 .64 .89 3.05 

Parent of household children under 18 years

Parent of 1 or more household children ......................... 9,040 18.0 17.1 19.8 .61 .65 .53 3.39 Not a parent of a household child ................................... 30,755 25.3 23.6 28.9 .77 .70 .94 3.06 

Number of care recipients

Caring for 1 person ......................................................... 27,416 25.2 24.5 26.8 .84 .80 .93 3.32 Caring for 2 persons ....................................................... 9,044 20.0 16.1 27.4 .51 .41 .71 2.56 Caring for 3 or more persons .......................................... 3,334 20.2 18.6 23.7 .52 8 ( ) 8 ( ) 2.56 

Relationship to care recipient

Eldercare providers caring for 1 person only .................. 27,416 25.2 24.5 26.8 .84 .80 .93 3.32  Caring for a spouse or unmarried partner 4 ................. 1,516 8 ( ) 8 ( ) 8 ( ) 3.65 3.90 3.11 5.54 

 Caring for a parent ....................................................... 11,436 31.1 29.5 35.0 1.04 .95 1.24 3.34  Caring for a grandparent 5 ........................................... 4,895 11.0 12.0 8.6 .12 .09 8 ( ) 1.13 

 Caring for another related person ................................ 4,807 23.4 21.7 27.0 .64 8 ( ) 8 ( ) 2.72 

 Caring for someone else ............................................. 4,762 14.6 14.1 15.5 .39 8 ( ) 8 ( ) 2.69 

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 15. Percent of eldercare providers 1 who provided care and the time they provided this care by day of week and 

characteristics, 2011 annual averages—Continued

(Numbers in thousands)

Number of

eldercare

providers

Percent of eldercare providers 1

who provided care per day

Average hours per day eldercare

providers 1 spent providing care

Average h

providers 1 

days they 

Total, all

days Weekdays

Weekends

and

holidays

Total, all

days Weekdays

Weekends

and

holidays

Total, all

days 

Care of household or nonhousehold members 2

Providing eldercare to household members only ........... 5,200 64.9 8 ( ) 67.4 2.62 2.46 2.98 4.04 

Providing eldercare to nonhousehold members only ..... 33,886 17.1 15.9 19.7 .44 .42 .50 2.59 

Frequency of care 6

Provided care daily ......................................................... 8,076 64.6 64.1 65.6 2.55 2.54 2.57 3.95 Provided care several times a week ............................... 9,399 27.4 27.2 28.1 .60 .54 .72 2.17 Provided care once a week ............................................ 7,944 11.7 6.9 21.3 .22 .09 .47 1.85 Provided care several times a month ............................. 8,069 5.4 4.4 7.5 .08 .05 .14 1.39 

Provided care once a month ........................................... 4,513 3.5 3.2 4.2 .08 8 ( ) 8 ( ) 2.38 

Duration of care 7

Provided care less than 1 year ....................................... 9,552 16.2 15.0 18.9 .43 8 ( ) 8 ( ) 2.66 

Provided care 1 to 2 years .............................................. 10,417 22.9 22.7 23.5 .71 .69 .75 3.08 Provided care 3 to 4 years .............................................. 6,095 30.9 28.4 36.9 .94 1.01 .78 3.04 Provided care 5 years or more ....................................... 13,730 26.0 24.1 30.2 .88 .74 1.19 3.38 

 1 Eldercare providers are those who in the previous 3 to 4 months cared for someone with a condition related to aging. Estimates were calculated for pers

least one person age 65 or over.

 2 Not all subcategories are shown. 3 Persons of Hispanic or Latino ethnicity may be of any race. 4 Care for a spouse or partner may be underreported. See the Technical Note for more information 5 Persons caring for a grandparent with whom they lived are included in the category "Caring for another related person." 6 Survey participants were asked how often they provided care in the past 3 to 4 months; this information was used to categorize them by frequency of ca

and percent estimates were measured using information about care provided on the diary day.

 7 For persons who provided eldercare to more than one person, the duration of care is calculated based on the person for whom they had cared the longe

8 Estimate is suppressed because it does not meet the American Time Use Survey publication standards.

NOTE: Unless otherwise specified, data refer to persons 15 years and over.
Table 16. Time spent providing eldercare and percent of the eldercare provider 1 population engaging in various careg

activities by sex, 2011 annual averages

Eldercare providers 1

On days they provided care

Eldercare time spent in selected

activities, percent distribution

Percent 2 who engaged in

caregiving activity Average hours spent p

Total Men Women Total Men Women Total Men 

Total .................................................................................. 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 3.12 2.58 Activities 3 reported as care done for those 65 and over:

 Eating and drinking ......................................................... 7.3 4.5 8.7 22.1 18.2 24.8 .23 .12  Household activities ........................................................ 22.6 23.5 22.0 40.2 33.0 45.3 .70 .61  Purchasing goods and services ...................................... 4.6 4.7 4.5 16.2 15.3 16.9 .14 .12  Caring for and helping household members ................... 6.3 4.2 7.5 16.6 14.1 18.4 .20 .11  Caring for and helping nonhousehold members ............. 10.0 10.4 9.8 25.2 21.6 27.9 .31 .27  Working and work-related activities ................................ 6.5 4 ( ) 4 ( ) 4.8 5.6 4.2 .20 4 ( ) 

 Organizational, civic, and religious activities .................. 2.5 4 ( ) 2.6 4.5 2.7 5.8 .08 4 ( ) 

 Leisure and sports .......................................................... 31.9 32.8 31.5 36.5 32.9 39.0 1.00 .84  Telephone calls, mail, and e-mail ................................... 1.0 .8 1.1 6.4 5.5 7.1 .03 .02  Traveling ......................................................................... 5.4 6.0 5.0 25.5 22.6 27.5 .17 .16  Other activities, not elsewhere classified ........................ 2.0 4 ( ) 1.4 6.0 4.8 6.8 .06 4 ( ) 

 1 Eldercare providers are those who in the previous 3 to 4 months cared for someone with a condition related to aging. Estimates were calculated for pers

cared for at least one person age 65 or over.

 2 Percents sum to more than 100 percent because some eldercare providers did more than one care activity on days they provided care. 3 The activity categories appearing on this table are not comparable to those appearing on other tables in the news release. Notably, travel appears as a 

category rather than being included in each major activity category, and the composition of the activity category "Other activities, not elsewhere classified," incamount of time spent in educational activities. 4 Estimate is suppressed because it does not meet the American Time Use Survey publication standards.

NOTE: Data refer to persons 15 years and over.