homework statistics australia

11 Surprising Homework Statistics, Facts & Data

The age-old question of whether homework is good or bad for students is unanswerable because there are so many “ it depends ” factors.

For example, it depends on the age of the child, the type of homework being assigned, and even the child’s needs.

There are also many conflicting reports on whether homework is good or bad. This is a topic that largely relies on data interpretation for the researcher to come to their conclusions.

To cut through some of the fog, below I’ve outlined some great homework statistics that can help us understand the effects of homework on children.

Homework Statistics List

1. 45% of parents think homework is too easy for their children.

A study by the Center for American Progress found that parents are almost twice as likely to believe their children’s homework is too easy than to disagree with that statement.

Here are the figures for math homework:

• 46% of parents think their child’s math homework is too easy.
• 25% of parents think their child’s math homework is not too easy.
• 29% of parents offered no opinion.

Here are the figures for language arts homework:

• 44% of parents think their child’s language arts homework is too easy.
• 28% of parents think their child’s language arts homework is not too easy.
• 28% of parents offered no opinion.

These findings are based on online surveys of 372 parents of school-aged children conducted in 2018.

2. 93% of Fourth Grade Children Worldwide are Assigned Homework

The prestigious worldwide math assessment Trends in International Maths and Science Study (TIMSS) took a survey of worldwide homework trends in 2007. Their study concluded that 93% of fourth-grade children are regularly assigned homework, while just 7% never or rarely have homework assigned.

3. 17% of Teens Regularly Miss Homework due to Lack of High-Speed Internet Access

A 2018 Pew Research poll of 743 US teens found that 17%, or almost 2 in every 5 students, regularly struggled to complete homework because they didn’t have reliable access to the internet.

This figure rose to 25% of Black American teens and 24% of teens whose families have an income of less than $30,000 per year.

4. Parents Spend 6.7 Hours Per Week on their Children’s Homework

A 2018 study of 27,500 parents around the world found that the average amount of time parents spend on homework with their child is 6.7 hours per week. Furthermore, 25% of parents spend more than 7 hours per week on their child’s homework.

American parents spend slightly below average at 6.2 hours per week, while Indian parents spend 12 hours per week and Japanese parents spend 2.6 hours per week.

5. Students in High-Performing High Schools Spend on Average 3.1 Hours per night Doing Homework

A study by Galloway, Conner & Pope (2013) conducted a sample of 4,317 students from 10 high-performing high schools in upper-middle-class California. 

Across these high-performing schools, students self-reported that they did 3.1 hours per night of homework.

Graduates from those schools also ended up going on to college 93% of the time.

6. One to Two Hours is the Optimal Duration for Homework

A 2012 peer-reviewed study in the High School Journal found that students who conducted between one and two hours achieved higher results in tests than any other group.

However, the authors were quick to highlight that this “t is an oversimplification of a much more complex problem.” I’m inclined to agree. The greater variable is likely the quality of the homework than time spent on it.

Nevertheless, one result was unequivocal: that some homework is better than none at all : “students who complete any amount of homework earn higher test scores than their peers who do not complete homework.”

7. 74% of Teens cite Homework as a Source of Stress

A study by the Better Sleep Council found that homework is a source of stress for 74% of students. Only school grades, at 75%, rated higher in the study.

That figure rises for girls, with 80% of girls citing homework as a source of stress.

Similarly, the study by Galloway, Conner & Pope (2013) found that 56% of students cite homework as a “primary stressor” in their lives.

8. US Teens Spend more than 15 Hours per Week on Homework

The same study by the Better Sleep Council also found that US teens spend over 2 hours per school night on homework, and overall this added up to over 15 hours per week.

Surprisingly, 4% of US teens say they do more than 6 hours of homework per night. That’s almost as much homework as there are hours in the school day.

The only activity that teens self-reported as doing more than homework was engaging in electronics, which included using phones, playing video games, and watching TV.

9. The 10-Minute Rule

The National Education Association (USA) endorses the concept of doing 10 minutes of homework per night per grade.

For example, if you are in 3rd grade, you should do 30 minutes of homework per night. If you are in 4th grade, you should do 40 minutes of homework per night.

However, this ‘rule’ appears not to be based in sound research. Nevertheless, it is true that homework benefits (no matter the quality of the homework) will likely wane after 2 hours (120 minutes) per night, which would be the NEA guidelines’ peak in grade 12.

10. 21.9% of Parents are Too Busy for their Children’s Homework

An online poll of nearly 300 parents found that 21.9% are too busy to review their children’s homework. On top of this, 31.6% of parents do not look at their children’s homework because their children do not want their help. For these parents, their children’s unwillingness to accept their support is a key source of frustration.

11. 46.5% of Parents find Homework too Hard

The same online poll of parents of children from grades 1 to 12 also found that many parents struggle to help their children with homework because parents find it confusing themselves. Unfortunately, the study did not ask the age of the students so more data is required here to get a full picture of the issue.

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Interpreting the Data

Unfortunately, homework is one of those topics that can be interpreted by different people pursuing differing agendas. All studies of homework have a wide range of variables, such as:

• What age were the children in the study?
• What was the homework they were assigned?
• What tools were available to them?
• What were the cultural attitudes to homework and how did they impact the study?
• Is the study replicable?

The more questions we ask about the data, the more we realize that it’s hard to come to firm conclusions about the pros and cons of homework .

Furthermore, questions about the opportunity cost of homework remain. Even if homework is good for children’s test scores, is it worthwhile if the children consequently do less exercise or experience more stress?

Thus, this ends up becoming a largely qualitative exercise. If parents and teachers zoom in on an individual child’s needs, they’ll be able to more effectively understand how much homework a child needs as well as the type of homework they should be assigned.

Related: Funny Homework Excuses

The debate over whether homework should be banned will not be resolved with these homework statistics. But, these facts and figures can help you to pursue a position in a school debate on the topic – and with that, I hope your debate goes well and you develop some great debating skills!

Chris Drew (PhD)

Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. [Image Descriptor: Photo of Chris]

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Should Australian schools ban homework?

Associate Professor, Faculty of Education and Social Work, University of Sydney

Director, Learning and Teaching Education Research Centre, CQUniversity Australia

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Richard Walker is the co-author of Reforming Homework: Practices, Learning and Policy.

Mike Horsley is the co-author of Reforming Homework: Practices, Learning and Policy.

CQUniversity Australia and University of Sydney provide funding as members of The Conversation AU.

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The recent decision by French President Francois Hollande to abolish homework from French schools has reignited the long running debate about homework.

This debate has been around for more than a century and remains a contentious issue for parents, students and education researchers alike.

A lengthy debate

Last month’s promised ban came as part of Hollande’s wider reforms to education , and followed widespread teacher and parent agitation for a short-term ban on homework in France earlier in the year.

At that time, the president of a French teachers’ organisation stated that homework reinforces socioeconomic and educational inequalities, saying: “Not all families have the time or necessary knowledge to help their offspring.”

On the other side of the debate, the president of another French parents’ association spoke in support of homework and stated: “Of course, it has to be reasonable, but going back over a lesson is the best way of learning things.”

Homework, broadly defined as tasks given to students during non-school hours, has long been the subject of both pro- and anti-homework campaigns, some of which have resulted in court action and the abolition of homework for students in some school grades.

Abolishing homework

The recent French announcement has led to calls for the abolition of homework in some German and American schools. So should homework be abolished in Australia?

The answer to this question requires a closer look at what homework is supposed to do, and whether it achieves these goals for students of all backgrounds.

The most comprehensive list of reasons for setting homework has been compiled by American researcher Joyce Epstein . These include the practice of already learnt skills, preparation for the next lesson, parent-child communication about school activities, the requirements of school or education department policies, and the enhancement of the reputation of the school or teacher.

But most empirical research into homework focuses on three main issues: does homework enhance student learning and achievement outcomes? Does homework help students to develop the skills of independent, self-directed learning? Does homework involve parents in the educational activities of their children in ways that are beneficial?

The conclusions

In our new book Reforming Homework: Practices, Learning and Policy , we have reviewed and evaluated the research evidence on each of the three issues.

While this research is complex and there are many caveats, the following broad conclusions can be drawn. In terms of academic achievement, homework has no benefit for children in the early years of primary school, negligible benefits for children in the later years of primary school, weak benefits for junior high school students and reasonable benefits for senior high school students.

Sound research has demonstrated that spending more time on homework is associated with lower student achievement; this finding is complemented by research showing that in countries with high homework demands, student performance on international tests of achievement is poor.

Self-directed learning skills are associated with doing homework but the research indicates that the development of these skills occurs when parents are able to assist upper primary and junior secondary school students with their homework.

Parental involvement in their children’s homework activities can be both beneficial and detrimental. It can be detrimental when parents are over-controlling or interfering, but can be beneficial to student motivation when parents provide autonomy and a supporting learning environments for their children.

An Australian ban?

In our book we have argued that rather than abolition, homework needs to be reformed. Generally speaking, homework needs to be better planned by teachers and needs to be of a higher quality.

But it won’t be easy – homework needs to be challenging for students but not too challenging, it needs to be interesting and motivating, and students also need adequate feedback.

So the way forward is to start a conversation between teachers, parents and students about the sort of homework students need. The routine of completing homework (if done well) can help with self-management, planning and organising skills, but these skills take a long time to learn.

Homework setting and practice will have to change so that students are learning about self-management and self-regulation. The sort of homework tasks that promote learning these skills will not focus on drill and practice but require homework tasks where students make some decisions and choices and also exercise some autonomy.

At the same time, guidance for students who do not have family support will require planning (and provision) to complete these sorts of more complex homework tasks. The books explores the equity implications of homework and how providing guidance and support for students should be explicitly planned as part of a homework curriculum.

Less homework, better homework

Overall, there should be less homework, especially homework that emphasises drill and practice. Homework should also be there as a a bridge between the community and the school. In particular, homework needs to be planned around the community’s and family’s fund of knowledge – which may be different from what the curriculum is based on.

In essence, homework can help children but perhaps not in the ways we think. And much of it depends on what you want homework to achieve and how parents and teachers see it.

One of the authors of this article has a six year-old daughter in her first year of school. When he asks his daughter to collect a reader from her school bag, bring it to the place she has chosen for the shared reading and decides who reads first and when, this may not seem like homework.

But in fact focusing on her choice and autonomy will help develop independent learning skills, skills that will hopefully last her lifetime. Understanding homework as a path to independent learning needs to be the first step.

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Evidence for Learning: Homework

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We acknowledge Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and pay our respects to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders past, present, and emerging. We also accept the invitation in the Uluru Statement from the Heart to walk together with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in a movement of the Australian people for a better future.

New research shows spike in mental health impacts of study stress on Aussie students in 2021

New research by mental health organisation  ReachOut  shows a significant increase in the severity of study stress for young Australians this year, with approximately one third of students reporting that study stress is currently having a major impact on their mental and emotional wellbeing, up from 18 per cent in December 2020.*

Conducted in September 2021, the survey found that the number of young people reporting poor mental health or wellbeing as a result of study stress has doubled from 25 per cent in previous years to 56 per cent this year. 

  The survey also showed some of the impacts that study stress is having on the lives of students in 2021 with the added  press ures of COVID-19 restrictions. The number of students unable to focus doubled to 68 per cent, up from 33 per cent in December 2020. 57 per cent were having trouble sleeping, up from 32 per cent in December 2020. 39 per cent reported poor nutrition, up from 18 per cent in December 2020 and 32 per cent reported that they had experienced issues with their family, up from 16 per cent in December 2020.

When asked about studying this year and navigating the challenges of COVID-19 restrictions, 40 per cent said it’s been difficult to learn content needed for exams, one in five said they didn’t have an appropriate place to study and 23 per cent said their plans for study or work after  school  have changed.

Despite the increased impact of study stress on young people, fewer young people are getting support for study stress. In 2019, 85 per cent accessed support from family, friends or professional services, while in 2021 this had dropped to 78 per cent.

Ashley de Silva, CEO of ReachOut, said that it was worrying to see students in such high distress and highlighted the support that is available.

“The results of ReachOut’s new research shows that this has been a stressful year for students. It’s taking a real toll on their mental health and the fundamentals such as sleep, nutrition and their relationships.

ReachOut undertakes research with students about study stress each year and said “it is concerning to see such a jump in these figures”.

“With Term 4 in full swing and some students preparing to return to face-to-face learning, thousands of students across the country still have significant challenges to face before the end of the year. This is particularly true for Year 12 students who are approaching their final exams.

“Now is the time for students to take a proactive approach to looking after their mental health and to seek professional support if they need it.

“High numbers of young people have indicated in this most recent research that information about how to cope with study stress, connecting with others going through the same thing and psychological support would help them right now. We want to remind students that ReachOut has information about study stress, tips, online communities and pathways to further support,” he said.

 * National surveys of over 1000 young people (aged 14-25) across Australia conducted in September 2021 and December 2020 by ReachOut.

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The pros and cons of homework.

John Hattie is Professor of Education and Director of the Melbourne Education Research Institute at the University of Melbourne, Australia, and the author of Visible Learning , a synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement in education.

When deciding on how much, and what, homework to hand out, Hattie says there are quite a few things teachers should consider.

“Homework in primary school has a measurable effect of around zero,” Hattie told BBC Radio 4 Journalist Sarah Montague.

“In high school it does have a larger measurable effect, which is why we need to get it right, not why we need to get rid of it. It’s one of those lower hanging fruit that we should be looking at in our primary schools to say ‘Is it really making a difference?”’

Hattie looked at research studies from all over the world that have tried to measure the impact of various factors on education, including the optimal time students should be spending on homework.

He found homework appears to be more effective for higher-ability rather than lower-ability students, and for older rather than younger students.

CensusAtSchool is a collaborative project involving teachers, the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Ministry of Education, which examines the lives of children in year four to 12.

A comparison of the findings from 2008 to 2013, reveals that Australian children are spending more time doing homework than they were five years ago.

In 2008, Australian children spent an average of 5.3 hours a week doing their homework. Today that has jumped to seven hours a week. Child psychologist Michael Carr-Gregg said he was concerned by the trend that kids were spending an increasing amount of time on homework, and believes the trend is linked to higher levels of anxiety.

“I actually think less is more with homework, because there seems to be so much stress around school,” he said.

A number of primary schools in Australia are effectively handing the decision-making power over to parents, allowing parents to permanently excuse children from homework.

Some primary schools have even sent letters home to parents outlining their reasoning for setting homework, but ultimately recognising that parents are best placed to make decisions about whether or not their children have the capacity or time to complete it.

Hattie is more positive about giving secondary school aged children homework.

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) found that high-school aged Australian students are also spending more hours doing homework each week.

The report found that 15-year-old Australian students spend an average of six hours a week doing homework. That marks an increase of 0.3 hours per week from the 2003 study.

Australia and Austria were the only countries to report a statistically significant increase in the amount of time students spend doing homework.

“The overall effect of homework on achievement in older students is positive, but there are quite a few qualifications to that,” Hattie writes in Visible Learning . Qualifications included things like the age of the learner, the amount of homework, and whether the homework was task-oriented or complex and unstructured.

Neurologist and former classroom teacher Judy Willis says if a teacher knows a bit about the brain, he or she can plan homework to suit the needs of students as they develop.

“During early school years, for example, the brain is focused on getting to grips with the world around us. Memories and understanding grow when new information can be linked to things we already know. Homework that helps with this recognition can build literacy and numeracy skills,” says Willis.

“When students reach adolescence, they become more independent and self-directed. There is shift away from rote memorisation and single, correct responses. Learning goals are more likely to focus on reading for content and comprehension, revising, report writing, solving problems, investigating and independent or group work.”

Willis says that while the amount of time spent on homework will always vary depending on the age of students, there are a few physiological guidelines to remember.

“After about 15 minutes of learning and practising something – such as the Pythagorean theorem in maths – the regions of the brain activated in spatial-numerical learning get fatigued and need to rebuild the neurotransmitters, such as dopamine, that get depleted,” says Willis. “The restoration only takes a few minutes if the break is timely, but if they are pushed to stay with that same process for too long, stress builds, neurotransmitters drop way down and it will take twice as long to restore full efficiency to that area of the brain.”

Willis recommends online games for learning basic knowledge as they usually have set timings.

“You can assign a specific amount of time to be spent on the skill-building program for homework and confirm students’ compliance by checking the teachers’ pages,” she says.

“When students know that the effort they put into homework will enhance their participation and enjoyment of classroom learning, they become more motivated. Pupils also put more effort into schoolwork or homework when they are engaged in something that is relevant to their studies.”

One of the studies Hattie examined warned against homework that undermined a student’s motivation, as it could lead to the student internalising incorrect routines.

“For too many students, homework reinforces that they cannot learn by themselves and that they cannot do the schoolwork,” says Hattie. “Ensuring that students are assessment-capable learners is the most important thing we can do to raise student achievement.”

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Australian Bureau of Statistics finds kids are watching less TV and doing more homework

IT might come as a surprise, but Aussie kids are watching less TV now than before – and this is what they’re doing instead.

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IT might come as a surprise to their parents, but Aussie kids are watching less television now than they were five years ago.

Instead, they’re spending more time doing their homework, helping out around the house and working part-time for pocket money.

A News Corp analysis of the past five years of data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics ’ Census at Schools project shows our children are getting less sleep, spending less time with friends, and less time playing sport.

And the findings are raising alarm bells among child development experts.

In 2008 Australian kids spent an average of 5.3 hours a week doing their homework, today that has jumped to seven hours a week.

Children are also spending an extra 1.3 hours a week on housework, and almost half an hour extra on paid work.

The Census at School survey examines the lives of children in years 4 to 12, It shows the amount of television kids are watching has been on a steady decline since 2008, when children sat in front of the TV for 10.7 hours a week.

Today our children are watching about an hour and a half less of their favourite TV shows, but instead, are spending four hours extra on the computer.

Leading child psychologist Michael Carr-Gregg said he was concerned by the trend that kids were spending an increasing amount of time on homework, and believes the trend is linked to higher levels of anxiety.

“I actually think less is more with homework, because there seems to be so much stress around school,” he said.

Dr Carr-Gregg said it was also particularly worrying that children were sleeping less than they were five years ago, and socialising less.

“Australia is in the grip of almost a pandemic of sleep deprivation, kids are so sleepy and so tired, they are not getting the necessary 8.25 hours to 9.25 hours a night,” he said.

“The cognitive effect is that they are too dopey to learn, and sleep deprivation has been linked to depression,” he said.

President of the Australian Council of State School Organisations, Peter Garrigan, is similarly concerned Australian schoolchildren are not spending enough time developing bonds with friends or playing sport.

“The amount of homework younger children in primary school should be getting is negligible, they should be encouraged to be playing sport and being physical in the afternoon,” he said.

Mr Garrigan said while children were watching less TV their tendency to spend more time in front of the computer screen rather than playing with their friends should be kept in check by their parents.

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How Australians Use Their Time

Key findings on how people use their time in Australia

• How Australians Use Their Time Reference Period 2006
• How Australians Use Their Time 1997 Archive release Reference Period 1997
• How Australians Use Their Time -- Selected Findings from the 1992 Time Use Survey, Australia 1992 Archive release Reference Period 1992
• View all releases

Key statistics

• Females who participated in unpaid work activities spent on average 4 hours 31 minutes a day, while males spent 3 hours 12 minutes.
• Of those who participated in employment related activities, males spent an hour more a day than females (8 hours 13 minutes compared to 7 hours 12 minutes).

Female parents who participated in child care, spent 3 hours 34 minutes while male parents spent 2 hours 19 minutes.

The Time Use Survey (TUS), conducted from November 2020 through to July 2021, measured the daily activities of people aged 15 years and over in Australia to provide insights into how people spent their time.

Participants completed a diary of their activities over two days. Participants were asked to report their main activity, referred to as primary activity and, one other activity done at the same time, referred to as secondary activity. The activity information was then coded to the Activity Classification.

The results represent, on average, how people spent their time in a day.  The data discussed below reflects the primary activity.

The 2020-21 TUS was collected during the COVID-19 pandemic and has undergone multiple changes. Data should be used for point-in-time analysis only and should not be compared to previous years. See Methodology for more information.

For more information about the survey design including weighting, relative standard error and margin of error refer to the Methodology .

COVID-19 context

The Time Use Survey (TUS) 2020-2021 was collected between November 2020 and July 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. During this time, initiatives were in place to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 including border control measures for some states and territories, stay at home orders, remote learning, shutting down non-essential services, limits on gatherings and social distancing rules.

Four types of time

The activities on which people aged 15 years and over spent their time can be divided into four types of time use.

Necessary activities – An average of 10 hours 35 minutes a day was spent on activities such as sleeping, eating, personal care, health and hygiene.

Contracted activities – An average of 3 hours 40 minutes a day was spent on activities such as paid work and education.

Committed activities – An average of 3 hours 30 minutes a day was spent on unpaid domestic work, child care, adult care and voluntary work.

Free time activities – An average of 5 hours 13 minutes a day was spent on free time activities such as social interactions, going out and watching TV.

On average, males spent more time on contracted and free time, while females spent longer on committed time:

• Males spent 4 hours 18 minutes on contracted time compared to females who spent 3 hours 4 minutes
• Males spent 5 hours 28 minutes on free time compared to 5 hours for females 
• Females spent 4 hours 13 minutes on committed time compared to 2 hours 44 minutes for males.
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Persons aged 15 years and over Average time spent per day, of total population Source: Table 1.1

Unpaid work

Unpaid work includes domestic, child care, adult care and voluntary work activities.

Most females (94%) and males (86%) participated in unpaid work activities. Of those who reported participating in unpaid work activities, females spent on average 4 hours 31 minutes a day, while males spent 3 hours 12 minutes.

Domestic activities

Domestic activities are all activities done to maintain and manage the household.

Most females (93%) and males (82%) reported participating in domestic activities.

Females were more likely than males to participate in most types of domestic activities:

• Housework (70% of females compared to 42% of males)
• Food and drink preparation/service (75% compared to 55%)
• Shopping (38% compared to 31%).  

More males (10%) reported participating in home and vehicle maintenance then females (4%).

Persons aged 15 years and over Proportion who participated in activity Source: Table 1.1

Overall, of those who participated in domestic activities, females spent on average 3 hours 23 minutes compared to 2 hours 38 minutes by males.

Females who participated in housework spent 1 hour 27 minutes compared to males (58 minutes).

Of those who participated in home and vehicle maintenance, on average males spent more time (1 hour 49 minutes) than females (44 minutes).

Persons aged 15 years and over Average time spent per day of persons who participated in activity Source: Table 1.1

Child care activities

The survey collected information on participation in a range of child care activities, including physical and emotional care, teaching, helping, playing, talking, minding and feeding children.

More female parents of children under 15 years participated in child care activities than male parents (89% compared to 73%).

Of the different types of child care participated in by parents of children under 15 years:

• 70% of females engaged in the physical and emotional care of children compared to 42% of males
• 51% of females spent time playing, reading or talking with a child compared to 38% of males
• 40% of females participated in feeding and food preparation for children compared to 17% of males.

Parents of children under 15 years Proportion who participated in activity Source: Table 11.1

Paid work consists of all employment related activities including working, job searching and travelling to and from work.

More males reported participating in employment related activities than females (48% compared with 37%).

Of those who participated in employment related activities, males spent on average, an hour more in a day doing these activities than females (8 hours 13 minutes compared to 7 hours 12 minutes).

The difference of average time spent in employment related activities between males and females is largest between ages of 25 to 44 years.

Persons aged 15 years and over Average time spent per day, of persons who participated in activity Source: Table 4.3

Free time consists of social and community interaction and recreation and leisure activities.

Most people (96%) participated in free time activities and spent on average 5 hours 27 minutes of their day on these activities.

People on average spent 1 hour 29 minutes interacting socially and 1 hour 12 minutes eating and drinking out.

Most people participated in recreation and leisure activities (93%) and spent on average 4 hour 23 minutes of their day on these activities:

• 75% watched TV and video, for an average of 2 hours 55 minutes
• 36% engaged in general internet and device use, for an average of 1 hour 1 minute
• 30% did exercise, sport or outdoor activity, for an average of 1 hour 29 minutes
• 22% were reading for an average of 1 hour 26 minutes.  

Males and females reported similar levels of participation in most recreation and leisure activities, apart from:

• 39% of females participated in general internet and device use compared to 33% of males
• 25% of females participated in reading compared to 18% of males
• 13% of males participated in digital games compared to 6% of females.

Persons aged 15 years and over Proportion who participated in activity Source: Table 1.1

Time stress

Participants were asked how often they felt rushed or pressed for time.

More females (38%) reported always or often feeling rushed or pressed for time than males (32%). Females aged 35 to 44 years (55%) were the group most likely to report always or often feeling rushed for time.

People in couple families with children under 15 years (52%) were more likely to report feeling rushed or pressed for time than couple families with no children (29%).

Persons aged 15 years and over Source: Table 3.1

Data downloads

Table 1: time spent, table 2: time spent by weekday or weekend, table 3: feels rushed or has spare time by selected demographics, table 4: time spent by selected demographics, table 5: time spent by persons aged 15 to 24 years, table 6: time spent by persons aged 15 to 64 years, table 7: time spent by persons aged 65 years and over, table 8: time spent by disability status, table 9: time spent by carer status, table 10: time spent by volunteer status, table 11: time spent by parents, by age of youngest child in household, table 12: time spent by parents, by labour force status, tables 13 - 17: time spent by time of day, table 18: time spent by location, data item list, methodology, how australian generations spent their time on recreation and leisure, media releases, females do more unpaid work, males do more paid work, do you need more detailed statistics, request data.

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Data shows how different generations of Australians spent their leisure and recreation time during COVID-19

Most of us had a lot more time on our hands during the peak COVID-19 pandemic years. 

So, where did it all go? 

Fresh data from the Bureau of Statistics (ABS) provides a snapshot of the activities different generations took part in for recreation and leisure during 2020-21.

It shows although people may have had limits on what they could do, there was still notable differences in how various age groups and genders spent their free time.

It appears millennials had little interest in gaming compared to the younger generation Z, whose thumbs were getting a workout. 

And despite many millennials growing up being told watching TV would give them square eyes, the baby boomers (their parents' generation) were spending a lot more time in front of the box.

But, we weren't all just sitting around. 

Lisa Scanlon, the ABS's director of social surveys and statistics, says the "good news story" is that across all ages, Australians were making time to get outdoors and exercise. 

Participation in recreation high across all ages

• Interwar generation (79 years and over) 
• Baby boomers (59-78 years)
• Generation X (44-58 years)
• Millennials, generation Y (29-43 years) 
• Generation Z (14-28 years) 

The findings reflect the ages of the participants in 2021, and only collected information from people aged 15 years and over.

The data was gathered from the ABS Time Use Survey (TUS),  which tracked the average day in the life of Australians between November 2020 and July 2021, which was during the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID restrictions likely affected free time and leisure activities in different ways, the ABS said.

But the impacts would have varied depending on each person's circumstances.

Initial data published in 2022 found most people participated in leisure activities (93 per cent) for an average of 4 hours and 23 minutes a day.

Participants kept a diary to paint a picture of how they spent their time.

It enabled the ABS to break down the percentage of participation across a range of recreational activities.

The new analytical article released this week takes a closer look at exactly who took part in those activities and for how long each day.

It focuses specifically on time spent watching TV and video, playing digital games, general internet and device use, reading, and exercise, sport and outdoor activity.

"It's useful to gather this information because our data is used by all sorts of people working on things like government programs, services, and academic research," Ms Scanlon told the ABC.

"It's designed to help understand Australian society at that point in time."

Millennials spent on average 3 hours and 27 minutes on leisure a day, which was the least amount of time across the generations. 

While the interwar generation spent the most time, clocking just over six hours daily.  

In every generation, men spent at least 30 minutes more time doing recreational activities than women.

Angela Jackson, lead economist at Impact Economics, said this was likely due to women still spending more time than men doing unpaid work in the household. 

Watching TV

Watching TV was one of the areas with the most difference across age groups. 

It showed the older interwar and baby boomer generations watched the most TV and video daily, viewing 3 hours 52 minutes, and 3 hours 48 minutes respectively.

Meanwhile, millennials spent the least amount of time in front of the tele, with women in that age bracket clocking up the fewest hours across the board.

Millennial women watched about 2 hours and 5 minutes a day. 

The data took into account streaming services and online videos, and excluded watching TV with children and video chats. 

"The TV findings were interesting, particularly how low it is for millennials and gen X," Ms Jackson said. 

"It really does seem to fall off a bit of a cliff."

Digital games

Playing video games on PlayStation and Xbox, as well as computers or phones, was by far the highest among gen Z.

On average, gen Z men were gaming for about 3 hours and 23 minutes per day.

Their participation rate of 37 per cent is close to five times the proportion of gen Z women. 

While only 8 per cent of women in that age group said they played digital games, those who did were playing for about 3 hours a day. 

Ms Scanlon said it was interesting to note that although gen Z men were playing the most digital games, they were also doing a lot of reading. 

Reading covered newspapers, books, magazines and e-books, but excluded reading news online or reading for study.

The interwar generation had the highest proportion of readers, with about half saying they read daily.

The baby boomers followed with about 30 per cent.

Nearly one in four gen X women were reading, compared to about one in eight gen X men.

Women spent more time reading than men across all generations, except the youngest age group. 

Despite having one of the lowest proportions who participated in reading (10 per cent), gen Z men spent the most time reading on any given day. 

"There's obviously a cohort of gen Z men who love their reading," Ms Scanlon said. 

Internet and device use

Doom scrolling through our phones or checking emails in our free time wasn't as high as the analysts expected.

Gen Z women had the highest participation overall (52 per cent), which Ms Jackson said could be attributed to social media use. 

Other than that, there wasn't a huge statistical difference in the amount of Australians using the internet in their leisure time across generations on any given day.

The data excluded watching YouTube and playing digital games, but it did include social media use and reading news online. 

The length of time spent on devices using the internet varied across genders.

Gen X and baby boomer men spent significantly more time (1 hour 17 minutes and 1 hour 12 minutes respectively) than women from the same generation.

Gen X women were online and using their devices for about 50 minutes. 

Exercise, sport and outdoor activity

This category spans a broad range of outdoor activities.

While it focuses on physical movement, fishing and golf are considered, so too is walking for both pleasure and exercise and time spent at the gym. 

There were similar results across all ages and sexes for participation.

"That's a good news story because across the board, about 30 per cent of all generations have spent time doing those activities," Ms Scanlon said.

The time spent on exercise and outdoor activities also showed only minor differences.

The largest difference in time spent for a generation by sex was for gen X, with men on average spending 43 minutes more than women. 

Ms Scanlon says while the data overall captures a moment in time around the pandemic, which would have "certainly had an impact" on how people spend their time, it's difficult to determine exactly how.

"Since these changes were very much based on individual circumstances, it's impossible to say exactly what that impact might have had on the data set as a whole," she said.

"But there are certainly some really interesting stories."

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