The American Time Use Survey (ATUS) measures the amount of time people spend doing various activities, such as paid work, childcare, volunteering, and socializing.

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ATUS News Releases

American Time Use Survey

June 22, 2011
In 2010, 82 percent of employed persons worked on an average weekday, compared with 35 percent on an average weekend day. Those working weekdays worked more hours than those working weekend days--7.9 hours compared to 5.5 hours. More...
(HTML) (PDF)

Married Parents' Use of Time Summary

May 08, 2008
In the years 2003-06, married mothers who were employed full time were more likely to do household activities and provide childcare on an average day than were married fathers who were employed full time. Among full-time workers, married fathers were more likely to work than were married mothers. More...
(HTML) (PDF)

Archived

 

ATUS Tables

Tables

Civilian noninstitutional population age 15 and over

  • Table A-1. Time spent in detailed primary activities, and percent of the civilian population engaging in each detailed activity category, averages per day by sex (PDFs) (2010) (2009) (2008) (2007) (2006) (2005) (2004) (2003) | (XLS)
  • Table A-2. Time spent in detailed primary activities, and percent of the civilian population engaging in each detailed primary activity category, averages per day on weekdays and weekends (PDFs) (2010) (2009) (2008) (2007) (2006) (2005) (2004) (2003) | (XLS)
  • Table A-3. Percent of the population engaging in selected activities by time of day, 2005-09 (HTML) (PDF) 2003-07 (HTML) (PDF)

Employed persons

  • Table A-4. Percent of employed persons working on their main job on days they worked, by occupation and hour of day,
    2005-09 (HTML) (PDF) 2003-07 (HTML) (PDF)
  • Table A-5. Percent of employed persons working on their main job on days they worked, by industry and hour of day,
    2005-09 (HTML) (PDF) 2003-07 (HTML) (PDF)

Married parents

Note: Tables A-6 and A-7 are updated and expanded versions of the tables appearing in the May 8, 2008 news release on Married Parents' Use of Time. To access the 2003-06 versions of these tables, see the news release.

  • Table A-6. Time spent in primary activities and the percent of married mothers and fathers who did the activities on an average day by employment status and age of youngest own household child, average for the combined years 2005-09 (HTML) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Table A-7. Time spent in primary activities by married mothers and fathers with own household children under 18 by employment status of self and spouse and age of youngest child, average for the combined years 2005-09 (HTML) (PDF) (XLS)

Additional tables are available in ATUS news releases.

Unpublished tables of time-use estimates by age, ethnicity, employment status, educational attainment, marital status, presence and age of household children, and other categories are available upon request by e-mailing the ATUS staff.

ATUS Charts

UPDATED Charts

 

ATUS Data Files

Data Files

Single-Year Data Files Multi-Year Data Files

How to use ATUS microdata files

Survey Documentation

Data files do not contain time-use estimates. Time-use estimates are available from:

ATUS Survey Documentation

Survey Documentation

 

ATUS Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. What is a time-use survey?
  2. When did the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) begin?
  3. Who conducts the ATUS?
  4. Who is asked to respond to the ATUS?
  5. I was asked to participate in the ATUS. Where can I find more information about participating in the survey?
  6. Who uses the information from the ATUS?
  7. How often are ATUS microdata published?

All ATUS FAQs »

 

Contact ATUS

Email: ATUS staff
Telephone number: (202) 691-6339
Fax number: (202) 691-6426
Postal address: American Time Use Survey
2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE
Suite 4675
Washington, DC 20212-0001