Experts once predicted that Americans would face excess leisure time (2015)

Re:Experts once predicted that Americans would face excess l... by em500 on Saturday June 18, 2022 @11:34AM (#31790773)

I think it's broadly true that people have a lot more leisure time that they think. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has surveys on how Americans spend their time[1]. Across the entire population, people spend 3.61 hours per day on Work and work-related activities, vs 5.19 hours per day on Leisure and sports.

If that seems a bit off, consider that a lot of people barely work at all (especially those under 25 and over 65), and those that have full time employment usually only work 5 days per week, which lowers the average hours per day considerably. So throughout an entire lifetime, I think it's true that Americans spend a lot more time on leisure and sport than on work. It just doesn't feel that way, especially when you're in prime working age.

But even full time employed parents (probably the group that perceives themselves most time starved) still spend 2.95 (mothers) to 3.52 (fathers) hours per day on Leisure and sports[2].

[1] https://www.bls.gov/tus/#tables

[2] https://www.bls.gov/tus/tables/a6-1317.htm

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Re:Experts once predicted that Americans would face excess l... by snowwrestler on Saturday June 18, 2022 @03:54PM (#31793206)

This is such a useful comment, especially about ages.

I would bet a higher percentage of people under 21 today are still in school, vs 100 years ago. School is not leisure time, but comes with leisure time.

And on the old end, Social Security and Medicare are probably allowing a higher percentage of people over 65 to enjoy a full retirement, vs 100 years ago.

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