Time for Life: The Surprising Ways Americans Use Their TimeIs it possible that Americans have more free time than they did thirty years ago? While few may believe it, research based on careful records of how we actually spend our time shows that Americans have almost five hours more free time per week than in the 1960s. Here time-use experts John P. Robinson and Geoffrey Godbey explain this surprising trend and how it has come about. They also discuss why so few Americans apparently appreciate how their free time has increased or how that new free time is being used. Their unique source of time-use information, the Americans' Use of Time Project, is the only such detailed historical data archive in the United States. Every ten years the project has been asking thousands of Americans to report their daily activities on an hour-by-hour basis in time diaries. |
Contents
Introduction and Methods 1 The Use of Time | 3 |
TimeDeepening | 24 |
Interpreting the Time Famine | 43 |
Measuring How People Spend Time | 57 |
Activity Codes for 1975 and 1985 National Studies | 70 |
Work and Other Obligations 5 The Overestimated Workweek and Trends in Hours at Work | 81 |
Trends in Average Hours Spent at Paid Work | 95 |
Trends in Housework and Family Care | 97 |
Trends in Arts Participation | 179 |
Trends in Fitness and Exercise Activities | 183 |
The Demographics of Time Use 12 Background Predictors of Time Use | 189 |
Summary Correlations of Background Factors and Activities | 190 |
Toward an Androgynous Society | 197 |
Ratio of Mens to Womens Time on Various Activities Across Time | 199 |
Widening Age Gaps in Time Use | 205 |
Age Differences in Time Use | 207 |
Trends in Family Care | 105 |
Trends in Total Productive Activity | 108 |
Trends in Personal Care and Travel | 110 |
Trends in Personal Care and Travel | 112 |
Free Time 8 Trends in Free Time 19651985 | 123 |
Trends in Free Time | 126 |
Differences in Free Time by Background Factors | 128 |
Trends in Television Time and Other Media | 136 |
Differences in Activities of TV Owners and Nonowners | 140 |
Trends in TV and Other Media Time | 145 |
Differences in TV Time by Background Factors | 146 |
Home Computers and Use of Time | 154 |
Mass Media Use and Use of Home Computers Yesterday | 161 |
Mass Media Use and LongerTerm Use of Home Computers 1995 | 162 |
Social Capital and the Rest of Free Time | 167 |
Trends in Social Capital and Other FreeTime Activities | 170 |
Trends in Social Capital Activities for Matched Samples | 176 |
Comparisons of 19891990 | 211 |
Status and Racial Differences in Time Use | 216 |
Trends in Various Activities by Race | 223 |
Subjective Time | 229 |
Perceptions of Feeling Rushed | 232 |
Differences in Stress by Background Factors and Year | 234 |
Items on the Time Crunch Scale and Scale Correlates | 237 |
Differences in Activity Enjoyment Ratings | 243 |
The Results from Inputs of Time | 252 |
CrossNational Differences in Time Use 1965 | 262 |
Japan and the United States | 265 |
Only Time Will Tell | 287 |
Brother Can You Spare Some Time? | 303 |
A Activity Differences Between 1965 1975 and 1985 | 321 |
H Proportionate Time Spent on Various Aspects of Household | 334 |
| 347 | |
Other editions - View all
Time for Life: The Surprising Ways Americans Use Their Time John Robinson,Geoffrey Godbey Limited preview - 2010 |
Time for Life: The Surprising Ways Americans Use Their Time John Robinson,Geoffrey Godbey Limited preview - 2010 |
Time for Life: The Surprising Ways Americans Use Their Time John Robinson,Geoffrey Godbey No preview available - 2008 |
Common terms and phrases
African Americans aged 18 Ameri Americans spend amounts of free androgyny Appendix arts average behavior changes Chapter child child care compared correlation daily decline decrease demographic described diary data differences eating employed women feel rushed Figure free-time activities gains in free gender gender gap Godbey greater grooming higher hobbies home computer hours a week hours of free hours per week household housework income increase interviewed Japan Japanese Juliet Schor labor force less free levels lives lower marriage married meals measures microwave oven minutes nonemployed women older overall paid participation particularly pattern percent percentage personal-care population postmodern pressure productive activity Pskov radio ratings reading Robinson role factors sample sleep social capital society spent stress survey Table telephone television viewing time-diary data time-diary studies tion Total trends U.S. Census Bureau values of GAP watching television workers