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Study Breaks Down Where The Time Goes, Literally

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Where does the time go?

Sure, it's a vague cliché, one that you hear a lot around seminal events, like certain birthdays, graduations and weddings.

But the government of the United States has data to show you exactly where the time actually goes.

It's called by American Time Use Survey, compiled by the U.S. Bureau of labor Statistics.

The study quantifies the average amount of time per day that individuals worked, did household activities, and engaged in leisure and sports activities.

For example in 2014, 23 percent of employed people did some or all of their work at home, that is a four percent increase from 2003. The average time employed persons spent working at home increased by 37 minutes (from 2.6 hours to 3.2 hours).

Americans worked an average of 7.8 hours on the days they were on the job.

Around the house, more women (83 percent) than men (65 percent) spend time doing chores, such as housework, cooking, lawn care, or financial and other household management.

On the days they did household activities, women spent an average of 2.6 hours on such activities, while men spent 2.1 hours.

On an average day, 20 percent of men did housework--such as cleaning or laundry--compared with 49 percent of women.

The survey did find that men are doing more household cooking and cleaning in 2014, compared with 2003.

As for how Americans spent their free time, they watched TV (2.8 hours a day.) TV watching accounted for more than half of our leisure time.

Overall, on an average day, men spent more time on leisure activities (6 hours) than women (5.2 hours). The study included things like exercising and socializing in this category.

Also, teenagers spend much more of their time on the computer than reading each day (eight minutes reading and 1.2 hours on the computer.)

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