A report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) finds 35 percent of employed people did some or all of their work at home on days they worked last year. Additionally, 70 percent of employed people did some or all of their work at their workplace. Employed women were more likely to work at home than employed men at 38 percent and 31 percent, respectively.
Data reveals on days they worked, full-time employed people worked an average of 8.1 hours. They worked 8.5 hours on an average weekday and 5.5 hours on an average weekend day. Many more people worked on weekdays than on weekend days with 81 percent of employed people working on an average weekday, compared with 30 percent on an average weekend day.
Among those who worked on an average weekend day, those with lower levels of education worked more hours than those with a bachelor’s degree or higher. On weekend days they worked, high school graduates with no college spent 6.4 hours working, compared with 4.0 hours for those with a bachelor’s degree or higher.
Among workers aged 25 and over, those with higher levels of education were more likely to work at home than were those who had less education. Fifty-one percent of employed people with a bachelor’s degree or higher performed some work at home on days worked, compared with 19 percent of those with a high school diploma and no college. Workers with a bachelor’s degree or higher were also more likely to work on an average day than were those with a high school diploma and no college at 72 percent and 63 percent, respectively.
On an average day, 81 percent of people engaged in household activities, such as housework, cooking, lawn care or household management, spending an average of about 2 hours on these tasks, according to the report.
Women were more likely than men to spend time on household activities. On an average day, 87 percent of women participated in household activities, compared with 75 percent of men. On the days they performed these tasks, women spent an average of 2.8 hours on household activities, while men spent 2.1 hours.
Time spent on household activities increased with age. Individuals ages 15 to 19 spent an average of 43 minutes per day on household tasks, while those 65 and older spent an average of 2.7 hours.
Among adults living with children younger than 18, those who were not employed spent significantly more time on household activities than those who were employed. On an average day, unemployed adults spent 3.1 hours on household tasks, compared with 1.7 hours for employed adults.
Housework was more common on weekends than on weekdays. On an average weekend day, 40 percent of people did housework, compared with 35 percent on an average weekday. However, people were slightly more likely to prepare meals and clean up afterward on weekdays, with 66 percent doing so, compared with 63 percent on weekend days.
