Today's Working Women Still Do More Housework Than Men
Men spend more time than women at work each day, while women, even those with full-time jobs, bear the brunt of household duties, according to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The annual American Time Use Survey found women spent 2.6 hours a day on household activities, compared with 2.1 hours for men.
Meanwhile, employed men worked 47 minutes more a day than employed women did last year. The difference was six minutes greater than it had been in 2010.
Among full-time workers, the study found, men put in 8.3 hours a day and women put in 7.8 hours.
For all workers, the average workday was 7.6 hours, compared with 7.5 hours in 2010.
On the days they worked, more than 20 percent of American employees did so from home. While men and women worked from home equally, the data showed that multi-job holders, the self-employed and employees with at least a bachelor's degree were the most likely to do so.
It wasn't just careers that kept Americans busy. The study shows 83 percent of women and 65 percent of men spent time each day in 2011 doing household chores such as cleaning, cooking, lawn care or financial and other household management.
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While they might sometimes feel otherwise, Americans don't spend all of their time working. The survey found that nearly all adults engaged in some sort of leisure activity.
Watching TV was the activity that occupied the most time, 2.8 hours per day, accounting for about half of all leisure time. That was up from 2.7 hours daily a year earlier. Other activities Americans used to relax in 2011 included socializing and exercising.
On an average day, adults age 75 and over spent 7.4 hours involved in leisure and sports activities, more than any other age group. Americans between 25 and 44 spent the least amount of time engaged in leisure activities, just 4.2 hours a day.
The American Time Use Survey, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics, was based on interviews of 12,500 Americans over the age of 15.
This story was provided by BusinessNewsDaily, a sister site to LiveScience. Follow Chad Brooks on Twitter @cbrooks76 or BusinessNewsDaily @BNDarticles. We're also on Facebook & Google+.
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