Average American Has Just 4 Hours, 26 Minutes of Free Time per Week | Hacker News Reader

Average American Has Just 4 Hours, 26 Minutes of Free Time per Week

studyfinds.org

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Anyone else think at least part of this survey feels off? Specifically, the big red flag to me is:

> Researchers also put together a list of the top ten things Americans plan to buy with their tax refunds.

> 1. Motorcycle tires

> 2. Playstation 4

> 3. Trip to casino

> 4. Niagara Falls trip

> 5. A party

Intuitively I find it hard to believe the number one thing Americans want is... motorcycle tires. Or a Playstation 4. Or a casino trip. Or a trip to Niagara Falls. A party, maybe.

I really don't buy the "4 hour 26 minute" narrative either. I know plenty of super busy people and everyone has far more than 4 hours of free time. They're really saying that the average person has barely more than 30 minutes of free time a day, including weekends?

I'm inclined to believe that this article is either inaccurately reporting the actual results or the study was poorly done.

Car tires should be far more common than MC tires, atleast.

Niagara Falls? It's seems really specific. "Freedom from credit card companies" nr.7 seems like a one off comment.

I would guess they messed up the list generation if they have actual data at all.

The number 4,5h seems bogus too. I can't find any source of the study so I assume it's bogus SEO click-bait spam to increase the rank of H&R.

Searching for the quotes reveal some spammy articles with convenient url-links to H&R.

> Car tires should be far more common than MC tires, atleast.

Remember, though, it was a purported list of what people buy with their tax refunds. A lot of people treat their tax refund as a windfall to spend on something fun rather than on something necessary.

I'd expect that for most people, if their car needs new tires they fall under the "necessary" category and they get them soon after realizing they need them. A motorcycle is often for recreational use, and new tires might fall into the "for fun" category, to be put off until some extra money is available.

I agree this seems bizzare at best.

"According to a study conducted by the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC), the number of American households with at least one motorcycle in their garage has reached 8.02 percent in 2018." [1]

"The total of motorcycles owned by US families has now reached 13.1M—12.2M or 93 % of which are active on the road, a decrease in percentage over 2014 (96.1%)." [1]

While these numbers do not say "and they plan to purchase tires" (tyres?), I can not imagine that the number of those planning to purchase tires would be greater than the number of people with cars who plan to purchase tires.

There are roughly 276.1 Million cars registered. [2] That does not mean anything, but inference would seem to suggest more people would purchase tires for cars.

Of course, this article may have given the respondents a multiple choice sheet (with just those choices :)

I sill lay claim, I can not imagine asking 100 people what they want to do with the tax refund, and their answers even remotely aligning with those. I might live in a strange part of the US, but I know the answers here would look much more like:

Fishing rods.

Fishing reel.

Tackle.

Parts for the boat and motor.

That #$@%^ thing I have not fixed on the house yet.

That other #$^!@# thing I have not fixed on the house yet.

BBQ supplies.

Pay off debt.

[1] https://www.rideapart.com/articles/302630/more-americans-own...

[2] https://hedgescompany.com/automotive-market-research-statist...

It's hard to believe this for the following reasons.

> A new survey finds that the average American adult logs just four hours and 26 minutes of time to themselves in a given week.

So this includes retired people?

> According to a Nielsen report, United States adults are watching five hours and four minutes of television per day on average (35.5 h/week) (2016 statistics)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_consumption

> Time Flies: U.S. Adults Now Spend Nearly Half a Day Interacting with Media

https://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/news/2018/time-flies-...

I don't doubt people have the tv on for 5 hours a day. I do doubt that people are intently watching every minute. Making dinner, washing dishes, straitening up, and folding laundry are all sort of obvious things people do while the tv is on.

Heck, that second reference included 'game console' which, i think, is the only one listed that really requires full engagement. that's 14 minutes a day.

the 2.5 hours on a web/app on a smartphone is an interesting one. Does listening to spotify at work count? that would definitely pump those numbers a lot.

This doesn’t pass the smell test. I’m pretty sure most Americans spend hours per day watching TV, on social media or playing video games.

If you're like me and you constantly procrastinate, then you have 20+hours of free time every week!

Procrastination is a symptom of being overwhelmed.

That sounds like BS. I have two kids and I can usually eek out an hour every day, sometimes two. So that puts me at 7 hours minimum, but I can usually make 10-20 happen. My kids wake up around 7 and go to sleep around 8. If we assume 8 hours of sleep, that leaves me with 3 hours unaccounted for every day.

Perhaps they're counting chores as "not free time", but most of those can be done while doing other things. For example, clean dishes while waiting for a pot to boil, or clean the toilet after or before taking a shower. I've done these types of things to free up time after my kids go to bed. If they're safe enough for me to get the restroom, they're probably safe enough for me to clean something.

I wonder how much time we'd end up with if we included time on a smartphone not doing productive tasks. It seems people spend time on their phone when they have a few minutes instead of doing chores, and then do those chores during their "free time". If you want more free time, find ways to squishing more into your non-free time.

I always aim for 4 free hours per DAY.

If this is true, I really don't understand how people can live in the USA.

Go to Canada, Europe or something!

Do you have children? If you have children, you can easily wind up with negative free hours per day.

If you averaged say, 4 parents and 4 non-parents free time, I could see how someone would easily arrive at a number where the "average American has just 4 hours of free time per week"

Yes, I do. One, and she is old enough now. Even when she was little, I had free time.

If you do not have enough free time for your child, maybe you should consider not having them. The same way you would if you did not have the finances right or anything else that may affect them...

I'm a grad student in the US, I have more free time than this. I also had more free time when I was working (even more than I do now). I know very few people that have this little amount of time, and that generally is because they decide that they want to spend their time doing work.

How on Earth does this have 60 votes? It's a content marketing piece for H&R Block based on a throwaway online survey that probably had ten people in it. Are HN readers just upvoting because they want validation?

I read the article because I thought "this can't be right, right?", and sure enough, it seems like SEO click-bait.

Their marketing will now be able to show a spike in traffic because of me searching for their stupid product and can report marketing success to their boss even tough I would never though the company again.

I fell a bit dirty ...

> A new survey finds that the average American adult logs just four hours and 26 minutes of time to themselves in a given week.

> And if that amount seems high, you’re also in good company. Four out of 10 people surveyed said they get even less free time than that total, incredibly.

Since the median and the average are usually [citation needed] not far away, this is not surprising at all.

I can definitely relate. I think all the administrative things are what annoys me most. Such as sifting through mail, bills, taxes, figuring out procedures to apply for things, etc.

Because it all feels so disconnected to real impact and result. Like all administrative work feels imaginary. Like we created the problem for ourself.

Yet, I don't know how to automate it, or get rid of it.

This is why I wouldn't go to America, the work life balance is non existent.

It's really company dependent. I love my work life balance.

And we have a desperate shortage of motorcycle tires.

I'd be curious to see how these numbers change with and without kids.

And people wonder why I quit my job to go on walkabout every few years.

If you are an adult man who is single (I assumed from the ability to go on walkabout), then you are actually not the average - you have lots of free time.

It is possible for a single adult man to have just 4 Hours, 26 minutes of free time per week.

Almost certainly by choice. I've had a few jobs with terrible commutes (5-6 hours a day), which only leaves the weekend as free time. Losing most of one day to chores still leaves at least 16 hours a week of free time. I've also gone to school while working full-time, which leaves a similar schedule. And I've worked two jobs, which again leaves a similar schedule. I have a hard time picturing a single, childless person having only 4.5 hours of free time. What sort of obligatory schedule are you thinking of? Three jobs and a lot of commuting?

Love the idea of this... Any details you can provide about your trips? Where, how long, etc?

I try to take at least a two-week vacation every year, to travel somewhere new. Every 2-4 years, I quit my job and move somewhere. So far I've lived in four US states and the Cayman Islands for a few years each.

In between about every other job, I'll take an extended trip. I did six months around Southeast Asia. I've done extended around-the-US travel. A couple months in Belize/Guatemala. Currently in the middle of three months in Cayman/Honduras.

If you've got no mortgage, no debt, no kids, it's easy to do at any income level. I've made these choices. It's not a tradeoff that many people want to make, but it's available to most people should they choose it (I realize kids aren't always planned).

Most of my trips are low-to-medium budget. SE Asia and Central America can be done for $20-50/day. Cayman is expensive, but I used to live here, so I've got free housing and loaner cars from friends (yet it's still costing me close to $100/day). The US can be dirt cheap if you don't mind car/tent camping.

I wonder if an average American works more or less than 4 hours per week (actual work, assuming 40 hours work week)?

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