The "American Time Use Survey" (based on a 2005 release of U.S. Census Bureau interviews with 21,000 people on their activities during one 24-hour period) is the federal government's first comprehensive study revealing how Americans spend their time. 

The survey analyzes what we do with our time: working, caring for others, caring for ourselves, caring for our homes, shopping, relaxing, and keeping in touch with others. Until recently, I didn’t know this wealth of information existed, and thought you might find it fascinating as well.

Some of the other interesting tidbits are: 

Working women are spending about an hour more doing housework and taking care of family members each day than working men do, according to a new report released by the Department of Labor. At the same time, men are putting in more hours at work.

In percentage terms, the areas where working women and men differ the most are housework and taking care of family members. On average, about 84 percent of women and 63 percent of men spent time on housework. In terms of hours logged, working women do almost twice the amount of childcare as working men-44 minutes versus 23 minutes. These working women also spent significantly more time, almost 50 percent, shopping.

The study seems to show that dual income families continue to follow the traditional husband-wife roles, with the wife continuing to take greater responsibility for the maternal role - spending about an hour and 20 minutes more each day maintaining the home and family, and about an hour less at work. 

I think most people would agree the results of the study are hardly surprising in this regard. Women have made headway over the years in becoming equals in the workplace; however from my observation they are still primarily responsible for traditional housewife duties.

The average hours per day spent working could seem surprising to some. I know many people who would ask, “What about those 10-hour days they have been putting in? In fact, while studies from the Bureau of Labor Statistics acknowledge that the rolls of workers putting in many more hours a day have increased, so too has the number of workers putting in fewer hours. This has left the averages generally unchanged.

It has been reported that some mothers have made the interesting observation that having children may help them become more effective at the office because having a child forces you to learn how to get things done quickly and efficiently.  

When I asked one particular working mother here at the Workforce Development Center, she said, "It's about multi-tasking. Multi-tasking is an unavoidable part of the equation when you are a mother." 

Now that she has a baby, she spends slightly fewer hours at work but makes the most of the time she is here. "When you've washed the dishes, set the table, done the laundry, put 'Barney' on, cooked dinner, and changed diapers all while making sure the two-year old isn't jumping off the coffee table, a day at work is nothing," she says.  

She is convinced that because of what she has learned dealing with parenthood, her "productivity on the job is way up from before."