Changes in Time Use during the Pandemic

How much did your life change in 2020? Probably a great deal. Maybe you worked from home instead of going to the office, your commute time dropped to zero, and you devoted much more time to supervising your children. Now we have the numbers in hand—time use data for 2020—and you can see whether the pandemic changed your life more or less than the life of the average American.

Of course, the 2020 data are not perfect. The Bureau of Labor Statistics had to suspend American Time Use Survey data collection during the early months of the pandemic—from mid-March to mid-May. Consequently, the BLS says it cannot produce annual estimates for 2020. But it has released estimates for the time period from May 10 through December 31. The report released today compares the 2020 averages for the May through December time period with the averages for the same time period in 2019. Here is how time use changed for the average person...

• Waking time spent at home increased from 7.62 hours per day in 2019 to 9.71 hours per day in 2020 as more worked from home and social activities were curtailed due to the pandemic. 
• Waking time spent alone increased from 6.06 hours per day in 2019 to 7.01 hours per day in 2020 because of the need for social distancing. The biggest increase in alone time occurred among 15-to-19-year-olds, rising from 4.28 hours a day in 2019 to 6.00 hours in 2020.
• Time spent watching television as a primary activity climbed from 2.74 hours per day in 2019 to 3.05 hours per day in 2020. The biggest increase in television time occurred among people aged 75 or older, rising from 4.52 hours per day in 2019 to 5.20 hours in 2020. 
• Time spent traveling (including commuting) fell from 1.22 hours per day in 2019 to 0.79 hours per day in 2020. 
• Among adults living in households with children under age 18, time spent caring for children as a primary activity (meaning the main activity) increased modestly from 1.18 hours per day in 2019 to 1.27 hours per day in 2020. 
• Among adults living in household with children under age 13, time spent caring for children as a secondary activity (while the adult was doing something else, such as working) grew from 5.07 hours per day in 2019 to 6.06 hours per day in 2020. 

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, American Time Use Survey