Dutch people spend one quarter of the day productively

Dutch people aged 18-64 years spend on average one quarter of their day on productive activities and half their time on non-productive activities. The remaining quarter of every twenty-four hours is leisure time.

Time use per twenty-four hours in hours per day (18-64 year-olds), 2001

Work

Whether or not people have a job and have children are important determinants for the how productive hours are spent. For example, a man without children with a paid job of more than twelve hours a week spends just over three-quarters of his productive time on his job. Women in the same position spend relatively less of their productive time on this job: nearly two-thirds.

Children

If people have children they spend less of their time on paid work. Men with children spend 70 percent of their productive time on work and about 10 percent on caring for others. Working mothers spend 40 percent of their productive time on their job. Caring for others accounts for nearly one fifth of their productive hours.

Time use: total productive time (18-64 year-olds), 2001

Housework

People who do not have a paid job spend most of their productive time on household chores and shopping. Women spend relatively more time on these activities than men. People without work also spend relatively much time on cooking. The presence of children has little effect on this.

Henk Hendriks