Survey: How Much Time Do Families Spend Together Each Week

We recently conducted a survey of 3,000 families to determine how much quality time they spend together each week. The results are below.

Family First

Use the map below to see how much quality time families spend together each week on average.

Key Findings:

• Increase in Family Time: The average American family spends 6 hours and 17 minutes of quality time together each week, nearly two hours more than in 2018.
• Regional Differences: North Dakota families spend the most time together (8 hours and 30 minutes), while West Virginia families spend the least (4 hours and 30 minutes).
• Meal Times: Families typically sit together for meals four times per week.
• Popular Activities: Watching TV or movies is the top family activity, chosen by 41% of respondents.
• Activity Preferences: Other favored activities include board/video games (17%), traveling/day trips (15%), outdoor activities (13%), and cooking/baking together (13%).
• Planning Challenges: Almost half of the families find planning trips the most difficult, with 15% struggling to coordinate meals and 14% finding sports activities challenging.
• Technology Use: 12% of families always allow phones at the dinner table, 67% sometimes allow them, and 5% ban them altogether.

Implications of the Study:

• Positive Trend in Family Time: The increase in family quality time suggests a shift towards stronger family connections despite modern challenges.
• Cultural Impact: Regional differences highlight the influence of local cultures and lifestyles on family interactions.
• Need for Interactive Activities: The dominance of passive activities like watching TV indicates a potential need to encourage more engaging family activities.
• Complex Family Dynamics: The difficulties in planning family activities and meals reflect the complexities of modern family life.
• Diverse Attitudes Towards Technology: Varying technology use during family time points to diverse attitudes and raises questions about the long-term impact on family dynamics.

Methodology

Online panel survey of 3,000 adults based on age, gender, and geography. Internal data sources are used to obtain population data sets. We used a two-step process to ensure representativeness through stratified sampling and post-stratification weighting. 

• Respondents are carefully chosen from a geographically representative online panel of double opt-in members. This selection is further tailored to meet the precise criteria required for each unique survey. Throughout the survey, we design questions to carefully screen and authenticate respondents, guaranteeing the alignment of the survey with the ideal participants. 
• To ensure the integrity of our data collection, we employ an array of data quality methods. Alongside conventional measures like digital fingerprinting, bot checks, geo-verification, and speeding detection, etc. each response undergoes a thorough review by a dedicated team member to ensure quality and contextual accuracy. Our commitment extends to open-ended responses, subjecting them to scrutiny for gibberish answers and plagiarism detection.