Women Spend More Time on Housework and Less Time on Leisurely Activities Per Day Than Men

The Bureau of Labor Statistics has recently released the results of their 2023 American Time Use Survey, which measured how much time American adults spend on work, households chores and responsibilities, and leisurely activities. While time spent on work responsibilities did not significantly differ between men and women, gender disparities were found among time spent on household chores and leisurely activities.

On an average day, women (86 percent) were significantly more likely than men (71 percent) to spend at least some time completing household activities such as chores, lawn care, cooking, or household management. This disparity was particularly found among household chores such as cleaning or laundry, with 48 percent of women and only 22 percent of men engaging in this type of housework on an average day. Furthermore, among adults who do engage in daily housework, women spent more time per day than men completing chores at an average of 2.7 hours per day compared to 2.1 hours for men.

The survey found most American adults (94 percent) spent at least some part of their day engaging in activities such as watching TV, socializing, or exercising. However, men spent an average of nearly one more hour per day on these activities compared to women at 5.6 hours per day and 4.8 hours per day, respectively.

The full survey results can be accessed here.