Data shows how different generations of Australians spent their leisure and recreation time during COVID-19 – ABC News

Most of us had a lot more time on our hands during the peak COVID-19 pandemic years.

So, where did it all go?

Fresh data from the Bureau of Statistics (ABS) provides a snapshot of the activities different generations took part in for recreation and leisure during 2020-21.

It shows although people may have had limits on what they could do, there was still notable differences in how various age groups and genders spent their free time.

It appears millennials had little interest in gaming compared to the younger generation Z, whose thumbs were getting a workout.

And despite many millennials growing up being told watching TV would give them square eyes, the baby boomers (their parents' generation) were spending a lot more time in front of the box.

But, we weren't all just sitting around.

Lisa Scanlon, the ABS's director of social surveysand statistics, says the "good news story" is that across all ages, Australians were making time to get outdoors and exercise.

The data was gathered from the ABS Time Use Survey (TUS),which tracked the average day in the life of Australians between November 2020 and July 2021, which was during the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID restrictions likely affected free time and leisure activities in different ways, the ABS said.

But the impacts would have varied depending on each person's circumstances.

Initial data published in 2022 found most people participated in leisure activities (93 per cent) for an average of 4 hours and 23 minutes a day.

Participants kept a diary to paint a picture of how they spent their time.

It enabled the ABS to break down the percentage of participation across a range ofrecreational activities.

The new analytical article released this week takes a closer look at exactly who took part in those activities and for how long each day.

It focuses specifically on time spentwatching TV and video, playing digital games, general internet and device use, reading, and exercise, sport and outdoor activity.

"It's useful to gather this information because our data is used by all sorts of people working on things like government programs, services, and academic research," Ms Scanlon told the ABC.

"It's designed to help understandAustralian society at that point in time."

Millennials spent on average3 hours and 27 minutes on leisure a day, which was the least amount of time across the generations.

While the interwar generation spent the most time, clocking just over six hours daily.

In every generation, men spent at least 30 minutes more time doing recreational activities than women.

Angela Jackson, lead economist at Impact Economics, said this was likely due to women stillspending more time than men doing unpaid work in the household.

Watching TV was one of the areas with the most difference across age groups.

It showed the older interwar and baby boomer generations watched the most TV and video daily, viewing 3 hours 52 minutes, and 3 hours 48 minutes respectively.

Meanwhile, millennials spent the least amount of time in front of the tele, with women in that age bracket clocking up the fewest hours across the board.

Millennial women watched about 2 hours and 5 minutes a day.

The data took into account streaming services and online videos, and excluded watching TV with children and video chats.

"The TV findings were interesting, particularly how low it is for millennials and gen X," Ms Jackson said.

"It really does seem to fall off a bit of a cliff."

Playing video games on PlayStation and Xbox, as well as computers or phones, was by far the highest among gen Z.

On average, gen Z men were gaming for about 3 hours and 23 minutes per day.

Their participation rate of 37 per cent is close to five times the proportion of gen Z women.

While only 8 per cent of women in that age group said they played digital games, those who did were playing for about 3 hours a day.

Ms Scanlon said it was interesting to note that although gen Z men were playing the most digital games, they were also doing a lot of reading.

Reading covered newspapers, books, magazines and e-books, but excluded reading news online or reading for study.

The interwar generation had the highest proportion of readers, with about half saying they read daily.

The baby boomers followed with about 30 per cent.

Nearly one in four gen X women were reading, compared to about one in eight gen X men.

Women spent more time reading than men across all generations, except the youngest age group.

Despite having one of the lowest proportions who participated in reading (10 per cent), gen Z men spent the most time reading on any given day.

"There's obviously a cohort of gen Z men who love their reading," Ms Scanlon said.

Doom scrolling through our phones or checking emails in our free time wasn't as high as the analysts expected.

Gen Z women had the highest participation overall (52 per cent), whichMs Jackson said could be attributed to social media use.

Other than that, there wasn't a huge statisticaldifference in the amount of Australians using the internet in their leisure time across generations on any given day.

The data excluded watching YouTube and playing digital games, but it did include social media use and reading news online.

The length of time spent on devices using the internet varied across genders.

Gen X and baby boomer men spent significantly more time (1 hour 17 minutes and 1 hour 12 minutes respectively) than women from the same generation.

Gen X women were online and using their devices for about 50 minutes.

This category spans a broad range of outdoor activities.

While it focuses on physical movement, fishing and golf are considered, so too is walking for both pleasure and exercise and time spent at the gym.

There were similar results across all ages and sexes for participation.

"That's a good news story because across the board, about 30 per cent of all generations have spent time doing those activities," Ms Scanlon said.

The time spent on exercise and outdoor activities also showed only minor differences.

The largest difference in time spent for a generation by sex was for gen X, with men on average spending 43 minutes more than women.

Ms Scanlon says while the data overall captures a moment in time around the pandemic, which would have "certainly had an impact" on how people spend their time, it's difficult to determine exactly how.

"Since these changes were very much based on individual circumstances, it's impossible to say exactly what that impact might have had on the data set as a whole," she said.

"But there are certainly some really interesting stories."

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Data shows how different generations of Australians spent their leisure and recreation time during COVID-19 - ABC News