WOMEN SPEND NEARLY AN HOUR A DAY LONGER THAN MEN DOING UNPAID WORK
Women spend almost an hour a day longer than men doing unpaid work, new data has shown.
According to latest figures from the Office for National Statistics, women in Britain spent an average of 3 hours and 32 minutes on unpaid work each day in March.
This included cooking, cleaning, gardening, volunteering, and caring for adults and children.
By contrast, men only spent an average of 2 hours and 35 minutes on the same activities each day.
The ONS data also showed how - apart from sleeping and working - adults in Britain spent most of their time each day watching television (2 hours and 20 minutes).
They also spent an average of 1 hour and 55 minutes preparing and eating food, and 55 minutes washing, dressing and self-grooming (55 minutes).
Less time was spent by Britons socialising (31 minutes) or cleaning (27 minutes) on a daily basis.
People in the East Midlands (4 hours and 13 minutes) enjoyed the most free time, including entertainment and socialising, out of England's regions.
This compared to an average of just 3 hours and 4 minutes for those in London, and 3 hours and 21 minutes in Yorkshire and The Humber.
The ONS figures were based on data collected between 9 and 17 March and revealed the average number of minutes a person spends each day on different activities.
On average, adults spent 1 hour and 12 minutes per day travelling - including 20 minutes commuting to work.
This was 11 minutes longer than a year ago and has increased year-on-year from a low of 17 minutes per day in 2020, when the Covid pandemic struck.
People living in London (91 minutes) spent the most time travelling each day.
The gender gap in time spent doing unpaid work was widest in households with children under 18, where women did 1 hour and 30 minutes more than men.
This included an extra 30 minutes per day on unpaid childcare and around an hour more on unpaid household work.
In comparable households without children, the gap in unpaid work was 41 minutes.
The gender gap was smallest in the West Midlands, where women spent 22 minutes more doing unpaid work.
It was highest in Wales (1 hour and 22 minutes) and Yorkshire and the Humber (1 hour and 21 minutes).
Among people who worked away from home, men did so for 7 hours and 29 minutes while women worked for 6 hours and 56 minutes.
The average time spent working from home was lower at 5 hours and 43 minutes for men and 5 hours and 12 minutes for women.
Around a quarter (24 per cent) of adults did exercise, sports, or well-being activities, for an average of 1 hour and 21 minutes a day.
This was down from a peak of one-third of adults (33 per cent) in March 2021, when Covid lockdown measures were eased to allow outdoor activities.
The amount of time spent doing gardening or DIY has also decreased since the pandemic.
In March this year people spent 12 minutes a day on these activities, down from 39 minutes in March 2020.
On average, adults spent 3 hours and 42 minutes per day doing free time activities, such as entertainment and socialising.
This was lowest among those aged 25 to 34 years (2 hours and 37 minutes).
Other working-age adults spent more time on these activities, such as those aged 45 to 54 who did them for 53 more minutes a day (3 hours and 30 minutes).
This gap continued to grow with age, with those aged 75 and over spending the most amount of time on free time activities (5 hours and 35 minutes).
Ellys Monahan from the ONS said: 'Today's findings shed light on the large amount of unpaid work adults in the UK do.
'Things like unpaid childcare, cleaning, and cooking adds a lot of value to the country but is not counted by standard economic measures such as GDP.
'These data will help us better understand this contribution.'
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