The Australian Bureau of Statistics define this as 'free time' and suggest that Australians have an average of 5 hours free time per day (more on weekends and less on weekdays) (Australian Bureau of Statistics 1999). Understanding how much free time people have and how they chose to use it is a key to what they consider important to their own well-being if not what assists them to find meaning in life. Free-time or lack thereof also varies depending on a persons characteristics such as age, gender and whether they have children. The 1997 'Time Use Survey' is of use in making generalisations about the amount of free-time particular groups of people have and the way in which it is used.

Who Has the Most Free Time?

The Bureau's report on 'Culture and Leisure' (1999) revealed that a number of factors influenced the amount of average daily 'main activity' free time individuals possess. For instance:

- Unemployed people or those not in the paid labour force, had more free time although this distinction was less marked given women's greater role in childcare and household duties/non-contracted time, ie. unemployed men: 7 hours 23 mins, women: 5 hours 53 mins as compared with full time employed men: 4 hours 23 mins, women 4 hours 0 mins.

- Women had 1 hour less free time than men on weekends due to their greater share of childcare and household duties.

- Those with dependant children had less free time than their childless counterparts, ie. women had 1 hour 34 mins and men 1 hour 46 mins less.

- Young people aged 15-24 without dependent children had more free time or around 5 hours 40 mins as compared to those aged 25-54 who had 5 hrs. This is because the former group less likely to be engaged in full time work and more likely to live with their parents and thus have fewer household duties.

- Older people aged 65 or over had the most free time: Men 7 hours 22 mins, women: 7 hours 0 mins, as they are likely to have retired from paid work, have no dependent children and less housework.

The amounts of time above relate to free time where it was the main activity. Hence free-time is actually greater when secondary activities are included such as listening to the radio while cooking a meal. This difference is significant, particularly for women who, by doing two things at once, spend the same average time as men on free time activities despite having 25 minutes less free time per day (Australian Bureau of Statistics 1999).

What People do with their Free Time

The average daily free time of Australians including secondary activities, was spent in the following manner:

1.Watching TV/videos: 2 hours 45 mins, with an 88% participation rate over a 2 day period.

2.Socialising/talking including on the phone: 2 hours 07 mins. Participation rate:75%

3.Listening to music: 1 hour 20 mins,. Participation rate: 60%

4.Reading: 36 mins. Participation rate: 48%

5.Sport and outdoor activities: 28 mins. Participation rate:27%.

6.Games/hobbies/arts & crafts:0:20. Participation rate: 20%

7.Resting/relaxing/doing nothing:0:16. Participation rate: 21%

8.Attending entertainment, sports and other events 7 mins. Participation rate: 5.8%
(Australian Bureau of Statistics 1999).

The main difference between how men and women spent their time is that women spent approximately 1/2 an hour more than men socialising/talking while men spent around 15 minutes more on sport/outdoor activities. The data also indicated that a number of life stage differences existed. These were as follows:

- Young people spent the least time reading per day, excluding from reading for study or research: 22 mins. They spent more on sports and outdoor activities (37 mins) and attending sports/entertainment events (12 mins), than the other life stage groups.

- Parents with dependent children spent the least time on free-time activities. They spent the least time on TV/video:2 hours 17 mins, sport/outdoor activities: 21 mins, or games/hobbies/arts/crafts:12 mins.

- Older people, 65 and over without dependent children watch just under an hour more TV/videos and read around 50 minutes more than younger people. Older people spent more time doing nothing, listening to music or engaging in arts/hobbies/games or crafts. However, they spent the least time talking or socialising:1 hour 36 mins. The bureau suggests that this is because a large portion live alone and are home all day (Australian Bureau of Statistics 1999).

What this tells us

The Australian Bureau of Statistics study of free time tells us that the most significant Australian leisure activity is watching television. However, the amount people can fit into a day depends on their ability to do more than one activity at once and stage in life. Young people and the elderly spend most time in front of the box.

Sharon Bond

References

The Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1999, 'How Australians Spend their free time,' Australian Social Trends, Canberra.