Before I had kids, I knew life would be different, but I wasn’t prepared for just how different the everyday would be. It turns out that taking care of kids requires a lot of attention and time, and that extra time must come from somewhere.

Coming back to my old data friend, the American Time Use Survey, I compared time use for those with children under 18 of their own in the household against those without.



More specifically, I plotted the 25th to 75th percentile range for both groups and the medians for reference. I looked at non-holiday weekdays.

Here’s how to read the charts below:

Does not have own kids under 18 in household Has own kids under 18 in household 20 75th percentile 15 Minutes in day 10 Median 5 25th percentile Compared median to those with no kids -40% -20% -10% 10% 20% 40% Less time More time

Out of 605 classified activities, below are the ones that showed the biggest drops for no-kids to kids. Relaxation, playing games, phone calls, and other personal activities take the biggest hit.



Personal mail Relaxing, thinking Arts and crafts Taking class Playing w/ non-household children Personal e−mail and messages Vehicle repair Phone calls, misc. Playing games Phone calls w/ friends No Kids Kids No Kids Kids No Kids Kids No Kids Kids No Kids Kids No Kids Kids No Kids Kids No Kids Kids No Kids Kids No Kids Kids 20 120 45 120 60 60 400 160 Minutes 40 150 100 100 50 150 50 140 350 35 15 120 80 80 40 40 300 30 100 100 100 25 10 60 60 30 30 250 80 20 60 40 40 20 20 200 50 15 50 5 40 20 150 10 20 10 10 Listening to radio Looking after hh children (primary act) Tobacco & drug use Repair, maintenance Care for hh adults TV and movies Religious practices Homework (hh children) Computer use for leisure Reading No Kids Kids 120 30 60 60 60 120 120 80 80 250 55 50 100 50 100 25 100 Minutes 50 40 200 60 80 60 40 80 20 80 45 30 60 150 30 60 40 15 40 40 60 20 40 20 40 100 35 10 20 40 10 20 20 10 30 20 Missing travel or dest. Not enough detail Listening to/ playing music (not radio) Sewing Work, other job(s) Planning for hh children Laundry Running Waiting for medical services Travel for shopping No Kids Kids 200 45 120 120 90 60 45 40 300 Minutes 40 80 40 40 55 35 100 100 250 150 35 70 35 50 30 30 80 30 60 30 80 200 45 25 25 50 25 100 60 20 150 60 40 20 20 40 20 35 40 100 15 30 15 15 50 10 40 10 20 30 10 10 50 Travel for excercise Travel for gas Travel for nonhh kids Interior decoration Shopping Gap/can’t remember Driving nonhh children Phone calls w/ family Attending hh children’s events No Kids Kids 30 30 40 80 12 45 120 100 200 Minutes 40 70 35 110 25 10 25 35 60 30 80 100 150 20 8 30 50 20 25 90 25 15 60 6 40 100 20 80 20 15 30 10 4 15 70 15 40 50 20 10 5 10 2 10 60 Personal mail Arts and crafts Relaxing, thinking No Kids Kids No Kids Kids No Kids Kids 20 120 Minutes 150 100 15 80 100 10 60 40 50 5 20 Personal e−mail and messages Taking class Playing w/ non-hh children No Kids Kids 45 400 160 40 140 350 35 120 300 30 100 25 250 80 20 60 200 15 40 150 10 Vehicle repair Phone calls, misc. Playing games No Kids Kids 120 60 100 50 150 80 40 100 60 30 40 20 50 20 10 Phone calls w/ friends Care for hh children (primary) Listening to radio No Kids Kids 120 60 80 Minutes 100 50 80 60 40 60 30 40 40 20 20 20 10 Tobacco & drug use Repair, maintenance Care for hh adults No Kids Kids 30 60 80 50 25 40 60 20 30 40 15 20 10 20 10 TV & movies Religious practices Homework No Kids Kids 60 60 250 55 50 50 200 40 45 150 30 40 20 100 35 10 30 Computer for leisure Reading Missing travel or dest. No Kids Kids 45 120 120 40 100 100 35 80 30 80 25 60 60 20 40 15 40 10 20

Where do all of the minutes go? Mostly shuttling around kids, taking care of kids, and preparing to take care of kids.



Health−related self care Food presentation Pick-up/ drop-off hh children Care for hh children Travel for hh children Food preparation No Kids Kids No Kids Kids No Kids Kids No Kids Kids No Kids Kids No Kids Kids 120 25 20 70 70 100 Minutes 40 20 60 60 15 80 50 50 30 15 60 40 10 40 40 10 30 20 30 20 5 20 20 5 0 10 Grocery shopping Travel for class Travel for nonhh adults Religious services Travel for banking Working out, misc. No Kids Kids 25 50 50 60 70 45 Minutes 120 20 40 40 50 60 35 100 15 30 40 50 30 25 10 80 40 30 20 20 5 15 30 60 20 Health−related self care Pick-up/ drop-off hh children Travel for hh children No Kids Kids No Kids Kids No Kids Kids 120 20 100 Minutes 40 15 80 30 60 10 40 20 20 5 0 10 Food presentation Care for hh children Food preparation No Kids Kids 25 70 70 Minutes 20 60 60 50 50 15 40 40 10 30 30 20 20 5 Grocery shopping Travel for class Religious services No Kids Kids 50 60 45 Minutes 120 40 50 35 100 40 30 25 80 30 20 15 60 20 Travel for nonhh adults Travel for banking Working out, misc. No Kids Kids 25 50 70 Minutes 20 40 60 15 30 50 10 40 20 5 30

Good times.

All of the changes seem to make sense, but I’m a little surprised that “working out” inched up for those with kids. That has not been my experience. I wonder if we’re seeing parents who work from home or are stay-at-home drop off their kids at school and then head to the gym. That seems to make sense anecdotally. I’ll have to take a look at that subset.

Notes