Retirement hands most people something they have not had since childhood: several extra hours a day. What people do with those hours is not a matter of guesswork. Every year the Bureau of Labor Statistics asks thousands of Americans to account for a full day, hour by hour, in the American Time Use Survey. This article looks at what the latest results show for people 65 and older, and offers a simple way to compare your own week.
About the survey
The American Time Use Survey is run by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The most recent results cover 2025 and were released on June 25, 2026. BLS notes that data collection was suspended from October 1 to November 12, 2025 during the federal government shutdown, which affects the 2025 estimates.
All figures below are average hours per day across everyone in the age group, including people who did not do the activity that day. So an average of 1.14 hours of work for people 65 to 74 does not mean everyone works an hour. It means some people work a full day and most do not work at all.
Where the hours go
This table is drawn from BLS Table 3, which reports time in major activities by age.
| Activity (hours per day) | Ages 35 to 44 | Ages 65 to 74 | Ages 75 and older |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leisure and sports | 3.89 | 6.90 | 7.39 |
| Working and work-related activities | 4.83 | 1.14 | 0.26 |
| Household activities | 1.98 | 2.74 | 2.73 |
| Eating and drinking | 1.16 | 1.27 | 1.49 |
| Purchasing goods and services | 0.72 | 0.88 | 0.82 |
| Organizational, civic and religious activities | 0.17 | 0.46 | 0.42 |
| Caring for household members | 1.23 | 0.13 | 0.09 |
| Caring for people outside the household | 0.09 | 0.25 | 0.14 |
| Personal care, including sleep | 9.40 | 9.63 | 9.87 |
The trade is clear. Compared with people in their late thirties and early forties, people 65 to 74 spend about three and a half fewer hours a day working and about an hour less caring for household members. Nearly all of that time moves into leisure, with smaller increases in housework, meals and community activities.
A closer look at leisure time
BLS Table 11A breaks leisure into its parts.
| Leisure activity (hours per day) | Ages 35 to 44 | Ages 65 to 74 | Ages 75 and older |
|---|---|---|---|
| Watching TV | 1.76 | 4.20 | 4.43 |
| Socializing and communicating | 0.58 | 0.55 | 0.56 |
| Reading | 0.22 | 0.46 | 0.62 |
| Relaxing and thinking | 0.25 | 0.49 | 0.65 |
| Playing games and computer use for leisure | 0.44 | 0.43 | 0.48 |
| Sports, exercise and recreation | 0.30 | 0.34 | 0.27 |
| Other leisure, including travel | Not shown | 0.43 | 0.37 |
| Total leisure and sports | 3.89 | 6.90 | 7.39 |
A day of leisure, ages 65 to 74
Average hours per day, 2025. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, American Time Use Survey.
Four things stand out.
Television takes most of the new free time. People 65 to 74 have about three more hours of leisure a day than people 35 to 44. About two and a half of those hours go to television. TV accounts for roughly 60 percent of leisure time in both older age groups.
Time with other people does not increase. Socializing and communicating averages a little over half an hour a day at every age shown: 0.58 hours for ages 35 to 44, 0.55 for ages 65 to 74 and 0.56 for 75 and older. More free time does not automatically turn into more time with friends.
Reading doubles, then keeps growing. Reading rises from 0.22 hours a day in the younger group to 0.46 at 65 to 74 and 0.62 at 75 and older, which is about 37 minutes a day.
Exercise barely changes. Time in sports, exercise and recreation is about 20 minutes a day at 65 to 74, close to the figure for people in midlife, and about 16 minutes at 75 and older.
Men and women spend the day differently
BLS reports some figures separately for men and women in the older age groups.
| Hours per day | Men 65 to 74 | Women 65 to 74 | Men 75+ | Women 75+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leisure and sports | 7.42 | 6.43 | 8.09 | 6.85 |
| Household activities | 2.35 | 3.09 | 2.17 | 3.17 |
| Working | 1.24 | 1.04 | 0.39 | 0.15 |
| Organizational, civic and religious activities | 0.41 | 0.50 | 0.37 | 0.47 |
Women 65 to 74 spend about 45 more minutes a day on household activities than men the same age, and have about an hour less leisure. At 75 and older, the gap widens: women do a full hour more of household activities and men have about an hour and a quarter more leisure. Couples settling into retirement may find it useful to look at that split openly.
How to read these numbers
Averages describe a population, not a person, and nothing here is a prescription. An evening of television with a spouse is not a problem to solve. What the data offers is a mirror. If you had assumed retirement would mean more time with friends, more time outdoors or more time on a long-postponed project, the national figures suggest that does not happen on its own. The extra hours tend to fill with whatever is easiest.
Try your own time diary
BLS collects its data by asking people to walk through one day. You can do the same.
- Pick two ordinary days, one weekday and one weekend day.
- Write down what you did in half-hour blocks, from waking to bed. Do it the next morning while it is fresh.
- Sort each block into the BLS categories in the leisure table above, plus housework, meals, errands and volunteering.
- Add up the hours and set them next to the column for your age group.
- Circle one number you would like to change, and by how much. Half an hour is plenty.
To see the comparison right away, enter your hours here.
Compare your day
Enter the hours you spend on each activity on a typical day. The bars show how you compare with the national average for your age group.
Your entries add up to more than 24 hours. Check the numbers above.
Averages are hours per day in 2025 across everyone in the age group, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics American Time Use Survey. For comparison only.
If you would rather work on paper, use this table.
| Activity | National average, 65 to 74 | My weekday | My weekend day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Watching TV | 4.20 | ||
| Socializing | 0.55 | ||
| Reading | 0.46 | ||
| Sports and exercise | 0.34 | ||
| Volunteer, civic and religious activities | 0.46 | ||
| Household activities | 2.74 |
Small shifts are easier to keep than big ones. Trading one half-hour of television for a walk with a neighbor changes two lines on the table at once. If you want ideas for structuring the week, see retirement routines that make life feel full without feeling busy.
Frequently asked questions
Who is included in these averages?
Everyone in the age group, whether or not they did the activity on the day they were surveyed. That is why average work hours for older adults look so low.
Does "watching TV" include streaming?
BLS groups television and video viewing together in this category. Computer use for leisure, such as browsing or games, is counted separately.
Why is sleep not listed on its own?
The table BLS publishes by detailed age group reports personal care as one category, which includes sleep and grooming.
How often is the survey updated?
BLS publishes results once a year, usually in late June.
Sources
All sources accessed November 13, 2026.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, American Time Use Survey: 2025 Results (released June 25, 2026)
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Table 3: Time spent in primary activities by age and sex
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Table 11A: Time spent in leisure and sports activities by selected characteristics
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