Questions & Answers on the American Time Use Survey

What is the ATUS?
What does the ATUS track?
Why is the ATUS important?
What is the ATUS used for?
How does the ATUS affect our country’s bottom line?
What happens if the ATUS goes away?
What is the problem?

What is the ATUS?

The American Time Use Survey is an annual federal tracking study of how, where and with whom Americans spend their time.  It tracks everything from paid work to caring for family members to cooking dinner to sleeping. It is the only data collection system for how Americans use ALL of their time, including all the unpaid caregiving work that all mothers do.

What does the ATUS track?

The ATUS tracks how much time we spend commuting, doing housework, sleeping, caring for our families. The ATUS tracks who is participating in various work, leisure and caregiving activities. It answers questions like: Who is cooking dinner? Who works the longest hours? How many hours do Americans work on the weekends?  Are we taking care of ourselves?

Why is the ATUS important?

The ATUS is the only way to track how Americans’ lives are changing.  Time is a resource and how we allocate it tells us the ‘real story’ about our daily lives. Finding out how Americans spend time helps policy makers and businesses make better informed decisions.

What is the ATUS used for?

The ATUS can and has been used to study a variety of issues.  Here are some examples:

Family and work-life balance
Researchers use ATUS data to estimate how much time mothers and fathers spend with their children, and how it has changed over time.  ATUS researchers also study how working parents balance the demands of childcare, work, leisure, and other activities in their lives.

Economic research
The Bureau of Economic Analysis has used the ATUS data to measure the value of unpaid work, including volunteering, child care, and household activities.

Gender Issues
Gender differences in caring for others as well as domestic chores have been studied using ATUS data, shedding light on the issue of gender inequalities of housework, caregiving and leisure time. 

International comparisons
ATUS data were recently published in the United Nations Development Programme's Human Development Report 2007/2008.  This report compares time use in the United States with time use in other countries across different demographic groups and sheds light on how Americans' well-being is different from those in other nations.

ATUS data were also provided to the United Nations' Gender Statistics Database. The database allows researchers to generate time-use estimates across different countries and demographic groups. These data help researchers better understand the roles that men and women play in society in different countries.

How does the ATUS affect our country’s bottom line?

• The United States spends over $50 million a year to measure the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the market value of goods and services produced by labor and property.
• The US spends $500 million per year measuring labor statistics.
• The ATUS, the study of “the rest of the story,” costs $4-6 million per year.

What happens if the ATUS goes away?

No one will truly know how Americans are spending their time.  If our policy-makers and businesses do not know how we spend our time, how can they truly address our needs through our laws, and the services and products they offer?  How can our real voices be heard?

What is the problem?

The President’s 2009 Budget eliminates the American Time Use Survey.