Housework Statistics: Time and Participation
Published September 15, 2026 · StatsGalore
Did housework on an average day [1]
In 2025, 36.1% of people age 15 and older reported housework on an average day. Housework averaged 0.56 hours across everyone and 1.55 hours among people who did it. Those numbers refer to a specific activity category, not the entire range of unpaid work that keeps a household running. [1]
The numbers
| Measure | All people | Men | Women | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Housework: hours across everyone | 0.56 | 0.30 | 0.81 | [1] |
| Housework: participation on an average day | 36.1% | 23.8% | 47.9% | [1] |
| Housework: hours among participants | 1.55 | 1.25 | 1.69 | [1] |
| All household activities: hours across everyone | 1.99 | 1.58 | 2.38 | [1] |
Housework is narrower than household activity
The larger household-activities category includes food preparation and cleanup, lawn and garden care, household management, and other tasks. A figure labeled housework should not silently be substituted for the broader total.
The distinction changes how the headline reads. The housework population average is 0.56 hours, while all household activities average 1.99 hours. Both can be accurate because one measures a component and the other measures a larger category containing it.
[1]Two sources of the difference between groups
Women were more likely to report housework on their diary day than men. Women who did housework also reported a higher average duration than men who did it. Participation and time among participants both affect the all-person average.
These comparisons describe groups across the country. They are not a paired comparison of partners within the same household. They do not show the full division of paid work, caregiving, maintenance, or other responsibilities between two particular people.
[1]Understanding an average day
The participation percentage is a snapshot of diary days across the survey. People who did no housework that day may have cleaned the previous day or planned to do it later. The data do not divide Americans into permanent cleaners and non-cleaners.
Averages also conceal different schedules. Some households spread tasks throughout the week; others concentrate them into longer sessions. The same total amount of work can produce different daily participation patterns.
[1]What the diary leaves unanswered
Time is an input, not a measure of the amount or quality of work completed. A larger home, a different set of tasks, or different equipment can change how long housework takes. The table cannot tell us which group is more efficient.
The survey's primary-activity framework also means that simultaneous responsibilities should not automatically be added together. These estimates are valuable for understanding the distribution of recorded time, but they are not a complete inventory of every physical and mental household obligation.
[1]Sources & notes
Source: BLS ATUS Table 1, 2025. Housework is included within household activities. Results cover the civilian population age 15 and older across all days, with survey and rounding uncertainty.
The 2025 ATUS did not collect diaries for September 30–November 11 during the federal shutdown. Under the existing weighting method, later fourth-quarter diaries represent the missing days as well. See the BLS collection notice before making year-to-year comparisons.
Source review: 2026-09-15. Article publication and underlying data dates are separate. How we use statistics · Suggest a correction