Accessible Version
How do children spend their time? Time use and skill development in the PSID, Accessible Data
Figure 1. Weekly Time Breakdowns
Four panels.
Top left panel: All Activities. The pie chart shows the average breakdown of all time uses in a typical week. The largest use of time is sleep at 40.3 percent, followed by class time at 18.5 percent, duties/chores at 14.6 percent, passive leisure at 10.5 percent, play and social activities at 7.4 percent, other activities at 3.2, enrichment activities at 3.1, and other enrichment at 2.4 percent.
Top right panel: Enrichment. The pie chart shows the average breakdown of enrichment activities. The largest portion of enrichment time is spent on homework at 65.8 percent, followed by reading at 19.8 percent, daycare at 7.5 percent, lessons at 3.3 percent, other education at 1.9 percent, and other classes at 1.8 percent.
Bottom left panel: Play and Social Activities. The pie chart shows the average breakdown of play and social activities. The largest portion of this time is spent on playing games at 43.5 percent, followed by having conversations at 17.3 percent, socializing at 13.1 percent, religious activities at 11.9 percent, hobbies at 6.4 percent, unstructured sports at 5 percent, and other group activities at 2.8 percent.
Bottom right panel: Passive Leisure. The pie chart shows the average breakdown of time spent on passive leisure. The largest portion of this time, at 66.9 percent, is spent watching television, followed by time spent on other media at 30.4 percent, and other passive leisure at 2.8 percent.
Note: Panels plot the average division of time into different categories over a typical week for our full PSID/CDS sample, pooling the 1997, 2002 and 2007 CDS waves.
Figure 2. Enrichment Time by Household Income and Parental Education
Left panel: Household Income
Hours
| Group | Average Hours | 90th Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| High | 6.46 | 8.77 |
| Low | 4.44 | 6.56 |
| Middle | 4.74 | 6.92 |
Right panel: Parental Education
Hours
| Group | Average Hours | 90th Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Both College | 7.75 | 11.00 |
| Neither HS | 4.25 | 6.59 |
| One College | 6.44 | 7.91 |
| At Least One HS | 5.18 | 7.32 |
Note: Panels plot enrichment time over a typical week for our full PSID/CDS sample, pooling the 1997, 2002 and 2007 CDS waves. "Both College" indicates that both parents in the household have college degrees, "One College" indicates only one parent has a college degree, "At Least One HS" indicates at least one parent has completed high school but not college, and "Neither HS" indicates neither parent has completed high school. The solid areas show the mean enrichment times for each SES group, while the shaded areas show the corresponding 90th percentiles.
Figure 3. Enrichment Time by Grade and Income
Top left panel: School Grade
Hours
| Grade | Hours |
|---|---|
| Elementary | 5.43 |
| Middle | 5.37 |
| High | 4.93 |
Top right panel: Income
Hours
| Grade | Hours, Low Income | Hours, Middle Income | Hours, High Income |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elementary | 5.01 | 5.15 | 6.17 |
| Middle | 4.32 | 5.34 | 6.51 |
| High | 3.99 | 3.88 | 6.61 |
Bottom left panel: School Grade, Without Daycare
Hours
| Grade | Hours |
|---|---|
| Elementary | 4.46 |
| Middle | 5.11 |
| High | 4.90 |
Bottom right panel: Income, Without Daycare
Hours
| Grade | Hours, Low Income | Hours, Middle Income | Hours, High Income |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elementary | 4.12 | 4.27 | 5.07 |
| Middle | 4.09 | 4.98 | 6.33 |
| High | 3.96 | 3.86 | 6.59 |
Note: Panels plot the average enrichment time over a typical week for our full PSID/CDS sample, pooling the 1997, 2002 and 2007 CDS waves. The top row of panels include before- and after-school care in enrichment time while the bottom row excludes them.
Figure 4. Time Use by Enrichment Category
Hours
| Enrichment | Average Sleep Time | Average TV Time | Average Play Time | Average Social Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| None | 67.13 | 16.93 | 6.78 | 5.07 |
| Low | 67.92 | 13.86 | 6.66 | 3.44 |
| Middle | 67.46 | 13.49 | 5.54 | 3.43 |
| High | 66.31 | 11.02 | 4.67 | 2.69 |
Note: Panels plot the average amount of time devoted in the typical week to various activities for four groups of children: (1) those who spend no time on enrichment, (2) those in the bottom third of the non-zero enrichment distribution, (3) those in the top half of the non-zero enrichment distribution, and (4) those in the top third of the non-zero enrichment distribution. Figure uses our full PSID/CDS sample, pooling the 1997, 2002 and 2007 CDS waves. Play time = games + unstructured sports, Social time = conversations + socializing
Figure 5. Time Use by Grade and Income
Top left panel: Average Sleep Time
Hours
| Grade | Hours, Low Income | Hours, Middle Income | Hours, High Income |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elementary | 70.88 | 70.74 | 69.77 |
| Middle | 67.51 | 68.08 | 66.38 |
| High | 65.78 | 64.77 | 62.72 |
Top right panel: Average TV Time
Hours
| Grade | Hours, Low Income | Hours, Middle Income | Hours, High Income |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elementary | 14.84 | 13.02 | 11.09 |
| Middle | 16.42 | 14.63 | 12.75 |
| High | 15.63 | 14.30 | 12.71 |
Bottom left panel: Average Play Time
Hours
| Grade | Hours, Low Income | Hours, Middle Income | Hours, High Income |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elementary | 7.04 | 8.04 | 7.97 |
| Middle | 4.85 | 5.64 | 5.51 |
| High | 4.70 | 5.34 | 5.04 |
Bottom right panel: Average Social Time
Hours
| Grade | Hours, Low Income | Hours, Middle Income | Hours, High Income |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elementary | 2.09 | 1.88 | 2.43 |
| Middle | 2.81 | 2.81 | 3.08 |
| High | 6.50 | 5.91 | 5.11 |
Note: Panels plot the average division of time into different categories over a typical week for our full CDS sample, pooling the 1997, 2002 and 2007 CDS waves. play = games + unstructured sports, social = conversations + socializing