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

In 2014, 23% of employed do some or all of their work at home on days they work

06/24/2015

In 2014, on days worked, 23 percent of employed persons spent time working at home, compared to 19 percent in 2003. In 2014, 85 percent of employed persons did some or all of their work at their workplace on days worked, compared to 87 percent in 2003.
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Unpaid eldercare provided by 16 percent of the population in 2011-2012

09/18/2013

Sixteen percent of the U.S. population over age 15 provides eldercare—unpaid care for someone with a condition related to aging—to others. Nearly one-fourth of eldercare providers engage in unpaid eldercare on a given day, spending an average of 3.2 hours in eldercare activities on those days.
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Access to and Use of Leave

08/16/2012

In 2011, 90 percent of wage and salary workers had access to paid or unpaid leave at their main jobs. Twenty-one percent of wage and salary workers took paid or unpaid leave during an average week and those who did took an average of 15.6 hours.
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Married Parents' Use of Time Summary

05/08/2008

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.
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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 activity, averages per day by sex, annual averages (PDFs) (2014) (2013) (2012) (2011) (2010) (2009) (2008) (2007) (2006) (2005) (2004) (2003) | (XLSX)
  • Table A-2. Time spent in detailed primary activities and percent of the civilian population engaging in each activity, averages per day on weekdays and weekends by sex, annual averages (PDFs) (2014) (2013) (2012) (2011) (2010) (2009) (2008) (2007) (2006) (2005) (2004) (2003) (XLSX)
  • Table A-3. Percent of the population engaging in selected activities by time of day, 2009-13 (HTML) (PDF) 2007-11 (HTML) (PDF) 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,
    2011-12 (HTML) (PDF) 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,
    2009-13 (HTML) (PDF) 2007-11 (HTML) (PDF) 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,
    2009-13 (HTML) (PDF) (XLS) 2007-11 (HTML) (PDF) (XLS) 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,
    2009-13 (HTML) (PDF) (XLS) 2007-11 (HTML) (PDF) (XLS) 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

Charts

 

ATUS Database

Database

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Historical Tables

Table Name Tables
American Time Use Survey (ATUS) Historical News Release Tables
American Time Use Survey (ATUS) Results Tables
Historical 'A-1' Tables
Time spent in detailed primary activities, and percent of the civilian population engaging in each activity, averages per day Tables
Historical 'A-2' Tables
Time spent in detailed primary activities, and percent of the civilian population engaging in each activity, averages per day on weekdays and weekend days Tables

More Tools

  • Series Report — Already know the series identifier for the statistic you want? Use this shortcut to retrieve your data.

ATUS Data Files

Data Files

Single-Year Data Files Multi-Year Data Files Module 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?

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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