Time use and free time
The page contains statistical data on women's and men's time use, housework, work and being alone. More information on time use and free time by sex:
Total labour input of women and men by stage in life
Total labour input expresses the total time used for gainful work and domestic work. The time used for gainful work and domestic work naturally varies a lot by age, stage of life and family status.
Married or cohabiting men and women whose youngest child was below school age had the biggest total labour input in 2009 to 2010.
Regardless of the family status, women did more domestic work than men. Men, in turn, spent more time on gainful work than women in all groups apart from one: women aged over 45 living in a childless union performed more gainful work than men.
Total work load of women and men by stage of family cycle, 2009 to 2010, %
Source: Statistics Finland, Time Use Survey
Domestic work performed by women and men
According to the 2009 to 2010 Time Use Survey, women performed, on average, 221 minutes domestic work per day and men 153 minutes. The time used by women on domestic work has increased since the end of the 1980s but has remained roughly at the level seen at the turn of the millennium. The time used on domestic work by men has increased slightly.
Time use for domestic work, 1987 to 1988, 1999 to 2000 and 2009 to 2010, minutes per day
Source: Statistics Finland, Time Use Survey
The most common domestic work performed by women was cooking, shopping and errands, cleaning and child care. For men, the most common domestic work was shopping and errands, cooking, cleaning, gardening or pet care.
Men used more time than women on renovation and construction, heating and water supply maintenance, and vehicle maintenance and repair. Women performed other domestic work more than men.
In 2009 to 2010, men spent on all domestic work as much time as or more time than in 1987 to 1988, except for vehicle maintenance and repair where the time used decreased.
Women in turn spent less time on cooking, textile care and dish washing than twenty years ago. Compared to before, women used more time on helping other households and on gardening and pet care.
Time used for different types of domestic work by women in 1987 to 1988 and 2009 to 2010, minutes per day
* The data from 1987 to 1988 are not fully comparable.
Source: Statistics Finland, Time Use Survey
Time used for different types of domestic work by men in 1987 to 1988 and 2009 to 2010, minutes per day
* The data from 1987 to 1988 are not fully comparable.
Source: Statistics Finland, Time Use Survey
Time spent alone
The time spent alone by both men and women grew in all age groups from 1999 to 2000 compared to 2009 to 2010. For young men aged 15 to 24 the growth was especially fast. The time spent alone by men also grew in other age groups more than for women, except for those aged under 15.
Women’s time spent alone of waking hours by age in 1999 to 2000 and 2009 to 2010, minutes per day
Source: Statistics Finland, Time Use Survey
Women’s time spent alone of waking hours by age in 1999 to 2000 and 2009 to 2010, minutes per day
Source: Statistics Finland, Time Use Survey